Study on the factors influencing service pricing in online medical communities based on signal theory (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Online medical communities are regarded as a potential solution to address the issue of inadequate medical resources in China. However, the lack of standardized service pricing in these communities has impeded their development. Currently, scholars are still in the exploratory stage of researching this phenomenon. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate the variations and factors that influence doctors' autonomous pricing in online medical communities. The findings can serve as a reference for the successful development of these communities. METHODS Drawing on signal theory, we developed a hypothetical model to identify factors influencing online medical service pricing. Data on the pricing behaviors of 4060 doctors were collected from the Good Doctor Online platform to test the hypotheses. RESULTS The pricing mechanism for online medical services provided by doctors lacks standardization, resulting in significant randomness and subjectivity. The factors directly influencing service pricing include offline factors (doctor's title, economic level of the city) and online factors (patient recommendations score, number of patients served by the doctor), while the indirect factors include the severity of the disease and the doctor's tenure on the platform. Among these factors, the economic level of the doctor's city and patient recommendations score exerted the most significant impact on service pricing. CONCLUSIONS Establishing an incentive-compatible pricing mechanism requires collaboration between online medical community administrators and physicians. Administrators should offer reference prices and guidelines to assist physicians in determining their own pricing. Additionally, administrators should create a platform for physicians and patients to express their opinions and engage in communication. On the other hand, physicians should select service pricing that aligns with their circumstances based on the provided reference prices and guidelines.