How do provider communication strategies predict online patient satisfaction? A content analysis of online patient-provider communication transcripts.

Chinese patients may have developed multiple needs, which they expect to fulfill through their interactions with doctors. Technological affordances of online medical platforms may pressure doctors to adapt their communication strategies to patients' needs. Our findings develop the PEO model from the perspective of patient-provider communication strategies and add a perspective centering on patients' needs to the scholarship on patient satisfaction. In addition, these results provide practical implications on how to improve patient-provider communication online.