@Article{info:doi/10.2196/47912,
author="Wang, Xinyi
and Su, Anping
and Liu, Feng
and Gong, Yanping
and Wei, Tao
and Gong, Rixiang
and Zhu, Jingqiang
and Li, Zhihui
and Lei, Jianyong",
title="Trends, Influence Factors, and Doctor-Patient Perspectives of Web-Based Visits for Thyroid Surgery Clinical Care: Cross-Sectional Study",
journal="J Med Internet Res",
year="2023",
month="Nov",
day="7",
volume="25",
pages="e47912",
keywords="internet hospital; outpatient; telemedicine; thyroid surgery; web-based visit",
abstract="Background: In recent years, the new generation of telecommunication technologies has profoundly changed the traditional medical industry. To alleviate the medical difficulties faced by patients with thyroid diseases, hospitals have opened web-based visits and actively combined online-to-offline outpatient services. Objective: This study aims to explore differences between office and web-based outpatient services from doctors' and patients' perspectives, illustrate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient services, and provide clues for improving the online-to-offline mode of care for patients with thyroid diseases. Methods: We collected the complete web-based and office outpatient records of the Thyroid Surgery Center of West China Hospital. A total of 300,884 completed patient encounters occurred (201,840 office visits and 99,044 web-based visits) from January 1, 2019, to May 31, 2022. We performed logistic regression to evaluate the association between the chosen visit type and patients' sociodemographic characteristics. Results: The number of web-based visits rapidly increased since March 2020 and reached 45.1{\%} (4752/10,531) of all encounters in December 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically accelerated the development of web-based visits. Web-based visits were preferred by patients 18-45 years old (odds ratio [OR] 2.043, 95{\%} CI 1.635-2.552, P<.001), patients with relatively high-paying jobs (technical staff: OR 1.278, 95{\%} CI 1.088-1.479, P=.003; office clerk: OR 1.25, 95{\%} CI 1.07-1.461, P=.005; national public servant: OR:1.248, 95{\%} CI 1.042-1.494, P=.02), and patients living in Sichuan Province (excluding Chengdu; OR 1.167, 95{\%} CI 1.107-1.23, P<.001). The medicine cost (P<.001) and examination cost (P<.001) of office visits were significantly higher than those of web-based visits. Conclusions: Web-based outpatient visits have increased rapidly in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted their development. The preference for web-based visits was influenced by the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of both patients and doctors. ",
issn="1438-8871",
doi="10.2196/47912",
url="https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e47912",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/47912",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37796623"
}