Are Multiple information sources better? The effect of multiple physicians in online medical teams on patient satisfaction

• Published in: Information processing & management 2025-01, Vol.62 (1), p.103889, Article 103889
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yunchao, Sun, Fang, Zhang, Xiaofei, Ma, Xiumei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Online health communities; Online medical team; Patient satisfaction; Service model
• ISSN: 0306-4573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ipm.2024.103889

•Medical teams in OHCs provide patients with information from multiple sources.•Multiple sources of health-related information improve patient satisfaction.•Team composition and team replies play significant moderating roles. An emerging service model in online health communities (OHCs) is that of medical teams comprising multiple physicians who collaborate to offer diagnoses and recommendations to patients. Given its multiple information sources, this model has the potential to deliver high-quality services and enhance patient satisfaction. However, the effect of a wider range of information on patient satisfaction has yet to be empirically examined. Therefore, the current research aims to examine the effect of multiple sources of health-related information on the satisfaction of patients in OHCs. We construct a sample model and empirically test it using a dataset comprising 115,367 consultation records sourced from WeDoctor. The results show that responses from multiple physicians in OHC medical teams increase patient satisfaction. In addition, we explore the moderating effects of team composition and team replies. The results show that physicians with higher titles and affiliations with the same department and the same question's replies from multiple physicians all play a positive moderating role, while reply time plays a negative moderating role. This research enriches the existing literature by focusing on patient satisfaction in the context of OHCs and offers recommendations for research and practice.