Objective: In online health communities (OHCs), patients often list their physicians' expertise by user-generated tags based on their consulted diseases. These expertise tags play an essential role in recommending the match of physicians to future patients. However, few studies have examined the impact of the accessibility of e-consults on patient assessments using marking of the physicians' expertise in OHCs. This study aims to investigate what are the patient assessments of the physicians' expertise if they have e-consult accessibility.
Methods: Through a case-control study, this article examined the effect of e-consult accessibility on patient-generated tags of physician expertise in OHCs. With data collected from the website, the samples consisted of 9841 physicians from 1255 different hospitals widely distributed in China. The breadth of voted expertise (BE) is measured by the number of consulted disease-related labels marked by a physician's served patients (SP). The volume of votes (VV) is measured by the number of a physician's votes given by the SP. The degree of voted diversity (DD) is measured by the information entropy of each physician's service expertise (labeled and voted by patients). The data analysis of e-consult accessibility is conducted by estimating the average treatment effect on the DD of physicians' expertise.
Results: For the BE, its mean was 7.305 for the case group of physicians with e-consults accessible (photo and text queries), while the mean was 9.465 for the control for physicians without e-consults. For the VV, its mean was 39.720 for the case group, while the mean was 84.565 for the control. For the DD, its mean on patient-generated tags was 2.103 for the case group, which is 0.413 lower than the control group.
Conclusion: The availability of e-consults increases the concentration on physician expertise in the patient-generated tags. e-Consults reinforce the increment of the already-received physician expertise (reflected in tags), reducing the tag information diversity.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10272648 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20552076231180693 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Brain drain in Emergency Medicine in Lebanon, building locally and exporting globally.
BMC Med Educ
January 2025
Department of Emergency Medicine, American University of Beirut, P.O.Box 11-0236, Riad El-Solh, Beirut, 1107 2020, Lebanon.
Objective: Despite the growth of Emergency Medicine (EM) globally, shortages of EM-trained physicians persist in many countries, disproportionately affecting lower middle/low-income countries (LMIC/LIC). This study examines the career paths of graduates of an Emergency Medicine residency-training program established in Lebanon with the aim of building local capacity in EM.
Design And Patients: This descriptive study utilizes secondary data sourced from an alumni database that includes nine cohorts of graduates from an Emergency Medicine residency program at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon.
Seeking consensus on dilemmas related to euthanasia in dementia based on an advance directive: a Delphi study from a medical, ethical and legal perspective.
J Med Ethics
January 2025
Medicine for Older People, AmsterdamUMC Location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Euthanasia in dementia based on advance euthanasia directives (AEDs) is possible within the Dutch Euthanasia law. Yet, physicians struggle with the responsibility of interpreting the law's open norms in cases of advanced dementia, which includes the fulfilment of the due care criteria. This Delphi study aims to analyse arguments and seek consensus from medical, ethical and legal perspectives on ethical dilemmas in such cases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdherence to Guideline Recommendations on Psychotropic Drug Use for Challenging Behavior in Dementia.
J Am Med Dir Assoc
January 2025
Department of Medicine for Older People, Amsterdam UMC, Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health, Aging and Later Life, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address:
Objective: Psychotropic drugs are frequently prescribed for challenging behavior in residents with dementia in nursing homes. Recommendations on psychotropic drug use for challenging behavior are described in the Dutch multidisciplinary guideline "Problem behavior in dementia." This study aimed to gain insight into the adherence to guideline recommendations on drug type and timing of evaluations of different types of psychotropic drugs for challenging behavior in a national sentinel network of Dutch nursing homes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA Novel Approach to the Management of an Intra-abdominal Abscess: A Case Report and Literature Review.
Cureus
January 2025
Department of Surgery, Harlem Hospital/Columbia University, New York, USA.
Exploratory laparotomies for blunt or penetrating trauma often result in significant morbidity. Despite advancements in resuscitation, surgical techniques, and antibiotics, intra-abdominal abscesses remain a serious complication, contributing to poor outcomes and extended hospital stays. Percutaneous computed tomography-guided drainage is the standard treatment for abscesses, offering high success rates and low morbidity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Soundtrack of a Clinic Day.
Ann Fam Med
January 2025
Clinical Skills Education Centre, Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
There is a hum and drum to the clinical day, sounds and rhythms that pervade physician and patient's soundscape. We hear but we do not listen. The soundtrack of the daily grind is experienced as an audio blanket of white noise.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!