Validity of patients' online reviews at direct-to-consumer teleconsultation platforms: a protocol for a cross-sectional study using unannounced standardised patients

Yunyun Xie, Wenjun He, Yuting Wan, Huanyuan Luo, Yiyuan Cai, Wenjie Gong, Siyuan Liu, Dongmei Zhong, Wenping Hu, Lanping Zhang, Jiaqi Li, Qing Zhao, Sensen Lv, Chunping Li, Zhang Zhang, Changchang Li, Xiaoshan Chen, Wangqing Huang, Yutong Wang, Dong Xu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

Introduction: As direct-to-consumer teleconsultation (hereafter referred to as ‘teleconsultation’) has gained popularity, an increasing number of patients have been leaving online reviews of their teleconsultation experiences. These reviews can help guide patients in identifying doctors for teleconsultation. However, few studies have examined the validity of online reviews in assessing the quality of teleconsultation against a gold standard. Therefore, we aim to use unannounced standardised patients (USPs) to validate online reviews in assessing both the technical and patient-centred quality of teleconsultations. We hypothesise that online review results will be more consistent with the patient-centred quality, rather than the technical quality, as assessed by the USPs. Methods and analysis: In this cross-sectional study, USPs representing 11 common primary care conditions will randomly visit 253 physicians via the three largest teleconsultation platforms in China. Each physician will receive a text-based and a voice/video-based USP visit, resulting in a total of 506 USP visits. The USP will complete a quality checklist to assess the proportion of clinical practice guideline-recommended items during teleconsultation. After each visit, the USP will also complete the Patient Perception of Patient-Centeredness Rating. The USP-assessed results will be compared with online review results using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). If ICC >0.4 (p
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere071783
Number of pages11
JournalBMJ open
Volume13
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 May 2023

Keywords

  • quality in health care
  • protocols & guidelines
  • health & safety

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