The Changing Patient-Physician Relationship: What Predicts Willingness to Undergo Online Treatment and Pay for Online Treatment?
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Abstract
Background: The Internet has not only revolutionized patients’ communication with the general practitioner (GP), it has increasingly become a part of the doctor-patient relationship. However, there has been little discussion about what kind of variables may predict willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay additionally for online treatment offered by the GP.
Objective: The study analyses sociodemographic, psychographic variables and variables of Internet usage in order to predict willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay for online treatment offered by the GP.
Methods: An online survey of 1006 randomly selected German patients was conducted. The sample was drawn from an e-panel maintained by GfK HealthCare. Missing values were checked and missing values imputed with SPSS. 958 usable questionnaires were analysed by using two multiple regression models (calculated with SPSS, version 20).
Results: First of all, the facets of patients’ personality to engage in information searching behaviour on the Internet (9 items) were analysed by an exploratory factor analysis leading to one factor reflecting the personal tendency of information searching behaviour on the Internet (information seeking personality); the factor scores were saved for the multiple regressions. The second exploratory factor analysis was executed with the variables measuring the motives for Internet usage (17 items), leading to two separate factors: perceived usefulness of the Internet for health related information searching (PU) and social motives for information searching on the Internet (social motive). Two factor scores (PU, social motive) were saved as variables for the following multiple regressions. Willingness to undergo online treatment offered by the GP can be predicted by different variables: willingness to communicate with the GP more often in the future (B=.495, p<.001), information seeking personality (B=.396, p<.001), actual use of online communication with the GP (B=-.198, p<.001), social motive (B=.178, p<.002) and PU on a 10% level (B=.092, p=.082) were significant predictors (Intercept=2.697). A second multiple regression was calculated with the same predictors above for the dependent variable “willingness to pay for online treatment offered by the GPâ€. Here the variables willingness to make use of (B=.391, p<.001), actual use of online communication with the GP (B=-.192, p=.001), highest education level (B=.178, p<.001), information seeking personality on a 10 %-level (B=.127, p=.067), monthly household net income category (B=.115, p=.013) and the PU on a 10 % level (B=-.098, p=.094) as well as the willingness to communicate with the GP more often in the future (B=.076, p=.026) were significant predictors (Intercept=.298). Other variables like age, gender, satisfaction with the GP, trust in the GP had no significant impact on the criteria of the multiple regressions.
Conclusion: It could be shown that important drivers of the willingness to undergo online treatment offered by the GP were the willingness to communicate with the GP more often in the future, the actual use of online communication with the GP, PU of the Internet for health related information searching (10% level) and the information seeking personality. Willingness to pay extra for online treatment is additionally influenced by the monthly household net income category and the education level. The results of this study are useful for physicians deciding about offering online treatment for specified patient segments.
Objective: The study analyses sociodemographic, psychographic variables and variables of Internet usage in order to predict willingness to undergo online treatment and willingness to pay for online treatment offered by the GP.
Methods: An online survey of 1006 randomly selected German patients was conducted. The sample was drawn from an e-panel maintained by GfK HealthCare. Missing values were checked and missing values imputed with SPSS. 958 usable questionnaires were analysed by using two multiple regression models (calculated with SPSS, version 20).
Results: First of all, the facets of patients’ personality to engage in information searching behaviour on the Internet (9 items) were analysed by an exploratory factor analysis leading to one factor reflecting the personal tendency of information searching behaviour on the Internet (information seeking personality); the factor scores were saved for the multiple regressions. The second exploratory factor analysis was executed with the variables measuring the motives for Internet usage (17 items), leading to two separate factors: perceived usefulness of the Internet for health related information searching (PU) and social motives for information searching on the Internet (social motive). Two factor scores (PU, social motive) were saved as variables for the following multiple regressions. Willingness to undergo online treatment offered by the GP can be predicted by different variables: willingness to communicate with the GP more often in the future (B=.495, p<.001), information seeking personality (B=.396, p<.001), actual use of online communication with the GP (B=-.198, p<.001), social motive (B=.178, p<.002) and PU on a 10% level (B=.092, p=.082) were significant predictors (Intercept=2.697). A second multiple regression was calculated with the same predictors above for the dependent variable “willingness to pay for online treatment offered by the GPâ€. Here the variables willingness to make use of (B=.391, p<.001), actual use of online communication with the GP (B=-.192, p=.001), highest education level (B=.178, p<.001), information seeking personality on a 10 %-level (B=.127, p=.067), monthly household net income category (B=.115, p=.013) and the PU on a 10 % level (B=-.098, p=.094) as well as the willingness to communicate with the GP more often in the future (B=.076, p=.026) were significant predictors (Intercept=.298). Other variables like age, gender, satisfaction with the GP, trust in the GP had no significant impact on the criteria of the multiple regressions.
Conclusion: It could be shown that important drivers of the willingness to undergo online treatment offered by the GP were the willingness to communicate with the GP more often in the future, the actual use of online communication with the GP, PU of the Internet for health related information searching (10% level) and the information seeking personality. Willingness to pay extra for online treatment is additionally influenced by the monthly household net income category and the education level. The results of this study are useful for physicians deciding about offering online treatment for specified patient segments.
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