ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2025
Resident Preferences for Telemedicine Services in China in the Digital Health Era: Mixed Methods Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Trust Building in Internet-Based Home Care Among Loyal Patients: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Digital Health Engagement Regarding Lumbar Disc Herniation in Terms of Exercise Adherence: Integrating Variable-Centered and Person-Centered Perspectives.Patient preference and adherence · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the digital health era, telemedicine has become a key driver of health care reform and innovation globally. Understanding the factors influencing residents' choices of telemedicine services is crucial for optimizing service design, enhancing user experience, and developing effective policy measures.
objectiveThis study aims to explore the key factors influencing Chinese residents' choices of telemedicine services, including consultation fee, physician qualifications, appointment waiting time, scope of services, privacy protection, and service hours. The study also analyzes preference heterogeneity among residents with different demographic characteristics to provide scientific evidence for optimizing telemedicine services in the digital health era.
methodsThis study used a mixed methods design combining qualitative interviews and a discrete choice experiment. Interviews identified key telemedicine attributes, informing the discrete choice experiment scenarios. Preferences and willingness to pay were analyzed using mixed logit and latent class models.
resultsResidents' preferences for telemedicine services were primarily shaped by the scope of services, appointment waiting time, and privacy protection, with substantial willingness to pay for more comprehensive, secure, and timely services. The optimal telemedicine services configuration-offering consultation plus prescription, high privacy, immediate access, 24-hour availability, and expert physicians-yielded a maximum willingness to pay of RMB 661.6 (a currency exchange rate of US $1=RMB 7.1803 is applicable). Latent class analysis revealed pronounced heterogeneity: while privacy and service scope remained universally prioritized, older, male, rural, and less-educated residents favored broader coverage, easier platforms, and lower costs; younger, female, and highly educated groups preferred faster, higher-quality, and more privacy-sensitive services.
conclusionsThis study reveals key drivers and significant demographic heterogeneity in Chinese residents' preferences for telemedicine services. Residents demonstrated a high willingness to pay for comprehensive services (eg, "consultation + prescription"), enhanced privacy protection, and shorter appointment waiting times. Additionally, the study innovatively identified 3 distinct resident profiles: "Diverse-Service-Oriented," "Utility-Oriented," and "Value-Oriented," and proposed differentiated optimization strategies to effectively address diverse resident needs, thereby promoting equitable access and efficient adoption of telemedicine services.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.