COVID-19 Pandemic and the Operation of a Tertiary Hospital in Tianjin—The Impact of Internet Healthcare on Hospital Business Indicators

Chen, Jia; Liu, Jie; Su, Xiao; Zhang, Xin; Guo, Dandan; Wang, Jiajing; Deng, Meili; Cui, Mingrui; Gao, Meijian; Zhang, Hong; Song, Yijun

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.892773

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Since the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a massive boost in the number of internet health care visits, with 60%-95% of out-of-hospital patients reportedly switching from offline to online medical care in countries such as Italy, the United States, and India [ 7 ]. The further development of internet hospitals in the postepidemic era is in line with the requirements of the times.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Current Status of the Use of Internet Hospitals for Outpatients With Pain: Retrospective Study

Sang,

Song

2023

J Med Internet Res

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Background The national “Internet +” policies and the emergence of internet hospitals have created a new direction for the management of pain outside of the hospital. Nevertheless, there are no consolidated studies conducted by pain physicians on the current state of internet hospital–based online medical services used by patients with pain outside of a hospital setting. Objective In this retrospective study, we aimed to examine the status of the use of internet hospitals by patients who experience pain. Moreover, we identified the factors that influenced patients' decisions to make an online visit through the internet hospital. Methods Detailed information was collected online and offline from outpatients with pain at the information technology center of West China Hospital of Sichuan University from February 2020 to April 2022. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the determinants that influenced patients' decisions to make an online visit to the internet hospital. Results Over a 2-year period, 85,266 pain-related clinic visits were recorded. Ultimately, 39,260 patients were enrolled for the analysis, with 12.9% (5088/39,260) having online visits. Both online and offline clinics had a greater number of visits by women than men. The average age of patients attending the online clinic was 46.85 (SD 16.56) years, whereas the average age of patients attending the offline clinic was 51.48 (SD 16.12) years. The majority of online clinic visitors (3059/5088, 60.1%) were employed, and one of the most common occupations was farming (721/5088, 14.2%). In addition, 51.8% (2635/5088) of patients who participated in the online clinics lived outside the hospital vicinity. Young (odds ratio [OR] 1.35, 95% CI 1.01-1.81; P=.045) and middle-aged (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.81-2.16; P<.001) patients, employed patients (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.04-1.18; P=.002), nonlocal patients (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.48-1.67; P<.001), and the ordinary staff (OR 1.19, 95%CI 1.01-1.39; P=.03) were more likely to have the intention to choose online visits through the internet hospitals. Conclusions Internet hospitals are flourishing as a more efficient and promising method of pain management and follow-up for patients with pain outside the hospital. People with pain who are young, working, and not in the vicinity of hospitals are more likely to visit internet hospitals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mobile medicine and telemedicine are the main components of internet health care. Internet hospitals currently exist only in China, and there is no such thing as internet hospitals abroad [ 6 , 7 ]. Telemedicine and mobile health are implemented in different forms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%