The Association between mHealth App Use and Healthcare Satisfaction among Clients at Outpatient Clinics: A Cross-Sectional Study in Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

Mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) have been developed in hospital settings to allocate and manage medical care services, which is one of the national strategies to improve health care in China. Little is known about the comprehensive effects of hospital-based mHealth app use on client satisfaction. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the full range of mHealth app use and satisfaction domains among clients attending outpatient clinics. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to February 2021 in twelve tertiary hospitals in Inner Mongolia. After the construction of the mHealth app use, structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Of 1889 participants, the standardized coefficients β on environment/convenience, health information, and medical service fees were 0.11 (p < 0.001), 0.06 (p = 0.039), and 0.08 (p = 0.004), respectively. However, app use was not significantly associated with satisfaction of doctor–patient communication (β = 0.05, p = 0.069), short-term outcomes (β = 0.05, p = 0.054), and general satisfaction (β = 0.02, p = 0.429). Clients of the study hospitals were satisfied with the services, but their satisfaction was not much associated with mHealth use. The limitation of the mHealth system should be improved to enhance communication and engagement among clients, doctors, and healthcare givers, as well as to pay more attention to health outcomes and satisfaction of clients.

Patient satisfaction impact indicators from a psychosocial perspective

“…Based on these two points, the researcher conducted an extensive survey on patient satisfaction in terms of meeting patient needs and improving communication skills. The main topics covered were communication attributes (10,11), technical skills of staff (12,13), cost of care (14, 15), waiting time (16,17), hospital hygiene and facilities (18,19), etc. Although these components are somewhat effective in predicting and examining the level of patient satisfaction, however, we found that there are still some shortcomings in these surveys.…”

eHealth usage among parents to premature or surgically treated neonates: associations with eHealth literacy, healthcare satisfaction or satisfaction with an eHealth device

“…The result is in line with some other research results indicating that personal experiences of eHealth can predict a degree of eHealth usage [ 21 , 22 ]. Contrarily, absence of associations between satisfaction with eHealth services and eHealth usage have also been described [ 23 ]. Differences between results could be attributed to various target groups, settings, and types of eHealth interventions.…”

Understanding Post-Adoption Behavioral Intentions of Mobile Health Service Users: An Empirical Study during COVID-19

“…The management of the m-Health platforms plays a significant role in the effective operations of m-Health services [17] and in developing consumer trust [21]. In fact, the recent studies show that the use of m-Health applications could improve patient satisfaction in terms of convenience, health information sharing, and the transparency of medical service fees [22]. Individual users rely on cognitive and emotional trust when making decisions [10].…”