Assessment of Internet Hospitals in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic: National Cross-Sectional Data Analysis Study

Autor: Bingbing Wang, Jieli Lan, Yingying Cai, Mingjun Chen, Jieyu Wu, Jianhui Guo, Shuna Huang, Le Yang, Tinggui Wang, Yi Sun, Yawen Lin, Yuduan Hu, Xingyan Xu, Xiaoxu Xie, Xuecai Gao, Siying Wu
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Data Analysis
Male
Mainland China
China
cross-sectional
Short Message Service
020205 medical informatics
education
digital health
Health Informatics
internet hospital
02 engineering and technology
lcsh:Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
prevention
Pandemic
Health care
0202 electrical engineering
electronic engineering
information engineering
Humans
Medicine
Outpatient clinic
030212 general & internal medicine
Medical prescription
Pandemics
Original Paper
Internet
SARS-CoV-2
business.industry
lcsh:Public aspects of medicine
COVID-19
lcsh:RA1-1270
medicine.disease
health care
Digital health
Hospitals
Telemedicine
accessibility
Cross-Sectional Studies
lcsh:R858-859.7
Female
The Internet
Medical emergency
business
control
Zdroj: Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol 23, Iss 1, p e21825 (2021)
Journal of Medical Internet Research
ISSN: 1438-8871
Popis: Background Internet hospitals in China are being rapidly developed as an innovative approach to providing health services. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the development of internet hospitals that promote outpatient service delivery to the public via internet technologies. To date, no studies have assessed China's internet hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective This study aimed to elucidate the characteristics of China's internet hospitals and assess the health service capacity of these hospitals. Methods Data on 711 internet hospitals were collected from official websites, the WeChat (Tencent Inc) platform, smartphone apps, and the Baidu search engine until July 16, 2020. Results As of July 16, 2020, 711 internet hospitals were developed in mainland China. More than half of these internet hospitals (421/711, 59.2%) were established during 2019 (206/711, 29%) and 2020 (215/711, 30.2%). Furthermore, about one-third (215/711, 30.2%) of internet hospitals were established at the beginning of 2020 as an emergency response to the COVID-19 epidemic. The 711 internet hospitals consisted of the following 3 types of hospitals: government-oriented (42/711, 5.91%), hospital-oriented (143/711, 20.11%), and enterprise-oriented internet hospitals (526/711, 73.98%). The vast majority of internet hospitals were traditional hospitals (526/711, 74%). Nearly 46.1% (221/711) of internet hospitals requested doctors to provide health services at a specific web clinic. Most patients (224/639, 35.1%) accessed outpatient services via WeChat. Internet hospitals’ consulting methods included SMS text messaging consultations involving the use of graphics (552/570, 96.8%), video consultations (248/570, 43.5%), and telephone consultations (238/570, 41.8%). The median number of available web-based doctors was 43, and the median consultation fees of fever clinics and other outpatient clinics were ¥0 (US $0) per consultation and ¥6 (US $0.93) per consultation, respectively. Internet hospitals have provided various services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including medical prescription, drug delivery, and medical insurance services. Conclusions The dramatic increase of internet hospitals in China has played an important role in the prevention and control of COVID-19. Internet hospitals provide different and convenient medical services for people in need.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje