ArticleDigital health
How do provider communication strategies predict online patient satisfaction? A content analysis of online patient-provider communication transcripts.
Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Decoding perceived risks in online healthcare services: a safety-trust model based on grounded theory.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Integrating retrieval-augmented generation for enhanced personalized physician recommendations in web-based medical services: model development study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Objective: As a result of the growing access to the Internet, online medical platforms have gained increased popularity in China. However, which strategies doctors should use to improve their online communication with patients remains understudied. Drawing upon the performance-evaluation-outcome (PEO) model, the present study seeks to develop a typology of patient-centered communication (PCC) strategies online and identify those strategies that can increase patient satisfaction. Methods: We employed the data crawling technique to access text-based patient-provider transcripts through a large medical consultation platform in China and coded 9140 conversational turns of doctors. Results: Our analysis revealed 15 PCC strategies that Chinese doctors often used online. In addition, several strategies were found to enhance patient satisfaction including information provision, making diagnosis, information appraisal, emotion expression, emotion recognition and support, in-depth discussion of medical treatments, providing coping strategies, and enabling self-management. Conclusion: Chinese patients may have developed multiple needs, which they expect to fulfill through their interactions with doctors. Technological affordances of online medical platforms may pressure doctors to adapt their communication strategies to patients' needs. Our findings develop the PEO model from the perspective of patient-provider communication strategies and add a perspective centering on patients' needs to the scholarship on patient satisfaction. In addition, these results provide practical implications on how to improve patient-provider communication online.
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