Xingyan Xu1, Yingying Cai1, Siying Wu1, Jianhui Guo1, Le Yang1, Jieli Lan1, Yi Sun2, Bingbing Wang1, Jieyu Wu1, Tinggui Wang1, Shuna Huang3, Yawen Lin1, Yuduan Hu1, Mingjun Chen1, Xuecai Gao1, Xiaoxu Xie1.
Abstract
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. ©Xingyan Xu, Yingying Cai, Siying Wu, Jianhui Guo, Le Yang, Jieli Lan, Yi Sun, Bingbing Wang, Jieyu Wu, Tinggui Wang, Shuna Huang, Yawen Lin, Yuduan Hu, Mingjun Chen, Xuecai Gao, Xiaoxu Xie. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 20.01.2021.
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. ©Xingyan Xu, Yingying Cai, Siying Wu, Jianhui Guo, Le Yang, Jieli Lan, Yi Sun, Bingbing Wang, Jieyu Wu, Tinggui Wang, Shuna Huang, Yawen Lin, Yuduan Hu, Mingjun Chen, Xuecai Gao, Xiaoxu Xie. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 20.01.2021.
Entities:
Keywords:
COVID-19; China; accessibility; control; cross-sectional; digital health; health care; internet hospital; prevention
Mesh：
Year: 2021
PMID： 33417586 PMCID： PMC7819672 DOI： 10.2196/21825
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J Med Internet Res ISSN： 1438-8871 Impact factor: 5.428