Getting the Healthcare We Want: The Use of Online "Ask the Doctor" Platforms in Practice
Xianghua Ding, Xinning Gui, Xiaojuan Ma, Zhaofei Ding, Yunan Chen
CHI '20: ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Session: Health information & advice
Abstract
Online Ask the Doctor (AtD) services allow access to health professionals anytime anywhere beyond existing patient-provider relationships. Recently, many free-market AtD platforms have emerged and been adopted by a large scale of users. However, it is still unclear how people make use of these AtD platforms in practice. In this paper, we present an interview study with 12 patients/caregivers who had experience using AtD in China, highlighting patient agency in seeking more reliable and cost-effective healthcare beyond clinic settings. Specifically, we illustrate how they make strategic choices online on AtD platforms, and how they strategically integrate online and offline services together for healthcare. This paper contributes an empirical study of the use of large-scale AtD platforms in practice, demonstrates patient agency for healthcare beyond clinic settings, and recommends design implications for online healthcare services.
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Remote Presentations for the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2020.
