From interactional manifestations to interpersonal motives: A pragmatic study of attentiveness by Chinese doctors during online medical consultations

This paper examined the attentiveness demonstrated by doctors to e-patients during online medical consultations (OMCs). Drawing upon data retrieved from www.chunyuyisheng.com (Chunyu Doctor), this study attempts to explore how doctors display attentiveness to e-patients and how attentiveness contributes to patient-centeredness during OMCs in China. It was found that three strategies (reformulation, mitigation, and empathy) were deployed by doctors to demonstrate attentiveness to e-patients during OMCs. Moreover, these three attentiveness-constructing strategies reveal the efforts of doctors toward patient-centeredness regarding communicative gaps in information, solidarity, and pathos. Notably, this paper discussed doctors’ demonstration of attentiveness as a joint goal-oriented activity, with the common goal of solving problems shared by doctors and e-patients. The findings above not only problematize the endemic idea that attentiveness is an intrapsychic essence from an interpersonal pragmatic perspective but also extend the line of doctor-patient communication by highlighting OMCs as a joint goal-oriented activity.