CAN I TALK TO AN ONLINE DOCTOR? UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF TRUST ON PATIENTS’ ONLINE HEALTH CONSULTATION

ABSTRACT Online health consultation (OHC) provides an alternative mechanism of healthcare delivery, which could enhance healthcare efficiency, reduce cost, and solve healthcare inequalities. Understanding why patients decide to use these OHC platforms could yield strategic implications of actualizing OHC’s impacts. Given the high uncertainties caused by the lack of patient-physician offline interactions and the sensitivity of health information, we possess trust as the major mechanism of shifting patients’ adoption decisions. Accordingly, this study examines how patients-related, platform situational, and physician-based factors affect patients’ intention of adopting OHC by triggering trust relationships. We conducted a survey to empirically test our theoretical development. We employed the structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrapping approaches to estimate path coefficients and significance of the model. Our results demonstrate that patients’ Internet self-efficacy on verification, trust propensity, perceived informativeness, platform reputation, structural assurance, and perceived physician credibility triggers trust relationship, therefore improving patients’ OHC adoption. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.