%0 Journal Article
%@ 1438-8871
%I JMIR Publications
%V 25
%N 
%P e47912
%T Trends, Influence Factors, and Doctor-Patient Perspectives of Web-Based Visits for Thyroid Surgery Clinical Care: Cross-Sectional Study
%A Wang,Xinyi
%A Su,Anping
%A Liu,Feng
%A Gong,Yanping
%A Wei,Tao
%A Gong,Rixiang
%A Zhu,Jingqiang
%A Li,Zhihui
%A Lei,Jianyong
%+ Division of Thyroid Surgery, Department of General Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Guoxue Street No. 7, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China, 86 19983137992, leijianyong@scu.edu.cn
%K internet hospital
%K outpatient
%K telemedicine
%K thyroid surgery
%K web-based visit
%D 2023
%7 7.11.2023
%9 Original Paper
%J J Med Internet Res
%G English
%X 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. 
%M 37796623
%R 10.2196/47912
%U https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e47912
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/47912
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37796623