College of Economics and Management, China Three Gorges University, Number 8, Daxue Road, Xiling District, Hubei, China.
School of Literature and Media, China Three Gorges University, Hubei, China.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2022 Jul 25;22(1):193. doi: 10.1186/s12911-022-01936-0.
With the rapid development of online health communities (OHCs), an increasing number of physicians provide services in OHCs that enable patients to consult online in China. However, it is difficult for patients to figure out the professional level of doctors before consultation and diagnosis because of information asymmetry. A wealth of information about physicians is displayed in their profiles as a new way to help patients evaluate and select quickly and accurately.
This research explores how the profile information (PI) presented in OHCs influences patients' impression formation, especially the perception of professional capital (i.e., status capital and decisional capital). The impression influences their intention to consult further, which is partially mediated by the initial trust. The Toulmin's model of argumentation is used to decide the strength of the argument presented in physicians' homepage information and divide it into claim, data, and backing.
This study conducts an internet experiment and recruits 386 subjects through the internet to investigate the effect of impression formation on online selection behavior by a patient.
The results show that the strength of argument has a significant positive association with the perception of professional capital. Perceptions of professional capital are highest when a fully composed argument (claim/data/backing) is included in a profile, with claim/data being the next highest and claim only the lowest. Recommendations from connections have the strongest impact. In turn, patients' selection decisions are influenced by their perception of professional capital, which is partially mediated by initial trust.
This study is significant in terms of its implications for theory and practice. On the one hand, this research contributes to the online health community literature and suggests that the perception of professional capital on physicians should be pre-presumed and built based on the information before in-person interaction online. On the other hand, this study is helpful in understanding the effect of various components included in PI on perceiving physicians' abilities, and not all information is equally important.
随着在线健康社区（OHC）的快速发展，越来越多的医生在中国的 OHC 中提供在线咨询服务，使患者能够在线咨询。然而，由于信息不对称，患者在咨询和诊断之前很难确定医生的专业水平。医生的个人资料中展示了大量关于医生的信息，这是一种帮助患者快速准确地评估和选择的新方式。
本研究探讨 OHC 中呈现的个人资料（PI）如何影响患者的印象形成，特别是对专业资本（即地位资本和决策资本）的感知。印象会影响他们进一步咨询的意愿，而这种意愿部分受到初始信任的影响。本文采用图尔敏论证模型来决定医生主页信息中提出的论点的力度，并将其分为主张、数据和支撑。
本研究通过互联网进行了一项实验，通过互联网招募了 386 名受试者，以调查患者在线选择行为的印象形成效果。
研究结果表明，论点的力度与对专业资本的感知呈显著正相关。在个人资料中包含完整的论证（主张/数据/支撑）时，对专业资本的感知度最高，其次是主张/数据，而主张/数据则最低。来自连接的推荐具有最强的影响力。反过来，患者的选择决策受到其对专业资本的感知的影响，而这种感知在一定程度上受到初始信任的影响。
本研究在理论和实践方面都具有重要意义。一方面，本研究为在线健康社区文献做出了贡献，建议在在线面对面互动之前，根据在线信息预先建立和构建对医生的专业资本的感知。另一方面，本研究有助于理解个人资料中包含的各种成分对感知医生能力的影响，并非所有信息都同等重要。
