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Background With the dramatic development of Web 2.0, increasing numbers of patients and physicians are actively involved in online health communities. Despite extensive research on online health communities, the conversion rate from visitor to customer and its driving factors have not been discussed. Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the conversion rate of online health communities and to explore the effects of multisource online health community information, including physician-generated information, patient-generated information, and system-generated information. Methods An empirical study was conducted to examine the effects of physician-generated, patient-generated, and system-generated information on the conversion rate of physicians’ personal websites by analyzing short panel data from 2112 physicians over five time periods in a Chinese online health community. Results Multisource online health community information (ie, physician-generated, patient-generated, and system-generated information) positively affected the conversion rate. Physician-generated and patient-generated information showed a substitute relationship rather than a complementary relationship. In addition, the usage time of a personal website positively moderated patient-generated information, but negatively moderated physician-generated information. Conclusions This study contributes to the electronic health literature by investigating the conversion rate of online health communities and the effect of multisource online health community information. This study also contributes to understanding the drivers of conversion rate on service websites, which can help to successfully improve the efficiency of online health communities.

Background With the rapid development of information technology and web-based communities, a growing number of patients choose to consult physicians in online health communities (OHCs) for information and treatment. Although extant research has primarily discussed factors that influence the consulting choices of OHC patients, there is still a lack of research on the effects of log-in behaviors and web reviews on patient consultation. Objective This study aims to explore the impact of physicians’ log-in behavior and web reviews on patient consultation. Methods We conducted a longitudinal study to examine the effects of physicians’ log-in behaviors and web reviews on patient consultation by analyzing short-panel data from 911 physicians over five periods in a Chinese OHC. Results The results showed that the physician’s log-in behavior had a positive effect on patient consultation. The maximum number of days with no log-ins for a physician should be 20. The two web signals (log-in behavior and web reviews) had no complementary relationship. Moreover, the offline signal (ie, offline status) has different moderating effects on the two web signals, positively moderating the relationship between web reviews and patient consultation. Conclusions Our study contributes to the eHealth literature and advances the understanding of physicians’ web-based behaviors. This study also provides practical implications, showing that physicians’ log-in behavior alone can affect patient consultation rather than complementing web reviews.

BACKGROUND With the rapid development of information technology and web-based communities, a growing number of patients choose to consult physicians in online health communities (OHCs) for information and treatment. Although extant research has primarily discussed factors that influence the consulting choices of OHC patients, there is still a lack of research on the effects of log-in behaviors and web reviews on patient consultation. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore the impact of physicians’ log-in behavior and web reviews on patient consultation. METHODS We conducted a longitudinal study to examine the effects of physicians’ log-in behaviors and web reviews on patient consultation by analyzing short-panel data from 911 physicians over five periods in a Chinese OHC. RESULTS The results showed that the physician’s log-in behavior had a positive effect on patient consultation. The maximum number of days with no log-ins for a physician should be 20. The two web signals (log-in behavior and web reviews) had no complementary relationship. Moreover, the offline signal (ie, offline status) has different moderating effects on the two web signals, positively moderating the relationship between web reviews and patient consultation. CONCLUSIONS Our study contributes to the eHealth literature and advances the understanding of physicians’ web-based behaviors. This study also provides practical implications, showing that physicians’ log-in behavior alone can affect patient consultation rather than complementing web reviews.

BACKGROUND With the dramatic development of Web 2.0, an increasing number of patients and physicians are actively involved in online health communities (OHCs). Although many researchers have examined OHCs, the conversion rate of OHCs and its driving factors has not been discussed. OBJECTIVE This study analyzes the conversion rate of OHCs and explores the effects of multi-source OHC information: physician-generated information, patient-generated information and system-generated information. METHODS An empirical research is conducted to examine the effects of physician-generated, patient-generated and system-generated information on the conversion rate of physician’s personal website by analyzing short panel data from 2,112 physicians over five time periods in a Chinese OHC. RESULTS The results indicate that multi-source OHC information: physician-generated, patient-generated and system-generated information positively affect the conversion rate. And physician-generated and patient-generated information have a substitute relationship rather than a complementary relationship. In addition, the usage time of personal website can positively moderate patient-generated information, but can negatively moderate physician-generated information. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to e-health literature by investigating the conversion rate of OHCs and the effect of multi-source OHC information. This study also contributes to understand the drivers of conversion rate on service websites and successfully improve the efficiency of OHCs. CLINICALTRIAL