ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Digital Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1589224
Development Prospects of "Internet + Medical and Health Services" in Shandong: Application Status and Public Acceptance
Provisionally accepted
- 1Maternity & Child Care Center of Dezhou, Dezhou, China
- 2DeZhou Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Dezhou, China
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BackgroundThe integration of Internet technology into healthcare has led to the birth of the "Internet + medical and health services" model-a transformative approach to improving accessibility and efficiency in healthcare delivery. ObjectiveThis study aims to assess the current status, challenges, and user perceptions of the "Internet + medical and health" services platform among individuals in Shandong, China.MethodsThe cross-sectional survey was conducted between September 2023 and October 2023 on patients from public medical institutions in Shandong Province. A structured questionnaire was employed to gather information on the general characteristics of the respondents and information about platform usage and user experiences. ResultsOf the 400 distributed questionnaires, 353 were valid. Most respondents were female (59.38%), aged 31-35 (28.13%), and held a bachelor's degree (55.97%). Compared to the educational distribution in the census results, individuals with a bachelor's degree or equivalent were significantly overrepresented in the surveyed population (16% vs. 69.61%, p < 0.001). Key barriers included a preference for face-to-face consultations (18%) and data security concerns (15%). Respondents emphasized the need for clearer legal regulations (4.33±0.73) and greater public awareness (4.23±0.68).ConclusionsPeople with higher education levels are more likely to adopt Internet Plus healthcare services, noting the hospital-affiliated platforms as their most-used types. While users appreciate the benefits of digital healthcare, concerns regarding personal information security and regulatory clarity continue to obstruct their wider use. Boosting data security, developing legal frameworks, and increasing user education should be the three central areas of improvement to facilitate a greater degree of acceptance and successful implementation of Internet Plus healthcare services.
Keywords: Survey, questionnaire, Application status, acceptance, Internet
Received: 07 Mar 2025; Accepted: 17 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Wang, Sun, Gao and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: YingJie Gao, DeZhou Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Dezhou, China
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