ARTICLE
26 July 2026

Heterogeneity in Online Doctor–Patient Interaction Among Clinicians: An Empirical Study Based on Aggregated Occupational Profiles

Zilin Wang1 ,  Zhengxian Ying1*
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1 Affiliated Dongyang Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Jinhua 322100, Zhejiang, China
APM 2026 , 11(7), 98–105; https://doi.org/10.26689/APM.v11i7.15572
© 2026 by the Author. Licensee: Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty Ltd, Australia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

With the continuous deepening of medical insurance payment-mode reform, the average length of hospitalization in public hospitals has been shortened significantly, and a large number of rehabilitation and follow-up treatment services have been transferred to the community and home settings. Online doctor-patient interaction has gradually transformed from a supplementary service to an important guarantee for continuous post-discharge health management, the reduction of unplanned readmissions, and the improvement of medical care quality. In order to realize the continuity of post-discharge care, many public hospitals have built “Internet-plus” medical service channels represented by Internet hospitals and Enterprise WeChat to carry out online asynchronous or real-time text communication between doctors and patients. However, obvious group-level differences exist in clinicians’ willingness to participate, response quality, and adherence to work in online services, which have become a bottleneck restricting the standardized promotion of online follow-up management. From the perspective of group heterogeneity and organizational behavior, this paper takes the cross-system operation data from January to December 2025 as the research sample and empirically analyzes the heterogeneous characteristics of clinicians’ online doctor-patient interaction behaviors based on their occupational attributes. The findings can provide a decision-making reference for hospitals to formulate differentiated incentive strategies and optimize the long-term operation mechanism of post-discharge online continuous care.

Keywords
Online doctor-patient interaction; Post-discharge continuous care; Clinician behavior; Group heterogeneity; Internet-plus healthcare
References

[1] Li C, Ji L, He D, 2025, Observation of the Effects of Post-Discharge Follow-Up Nursing on Cardiac Rehabilitation and Complication Prevention in Patients with Myocardial Infarction. Prevention and Treatment Knowledge of Cardiovascular Disease, 15(12): 71–74.

[2] Zhang H, 2025, Construction and Application of a Post-Discharge Follow-Up Checklist for Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction, thesis, Zunyi Medical University.

[3] Liu M, 2025, Construction and Application of an Evidence-Based Post-Discharge Follow-Up Program for Preterm Infants, thesis, Yangtze University.

[4] Chen J, Deng W, 2024, Progress in Roles of Cyclophilin A in Pulmonary Infectious Diseases. Advances in Precision Medicine, 40(10): 1980–1984.

[5] Yang K, 2024, Needs and Preferences Regarding Post-Discharge Follow-Up Among Patients After PCI for Coronary Heart Disease, thesis, Zunyi Medical University.

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