They are hospitalized for a shorter time - and hospitalization can cost thousands per day. Plus their psychological well-being just goes right off the charts. Their experience of being sick is an order of magnitude better because they are in charge. They are not the passive recipients of some process they don't understand. The social contract behind these online groups is that the patients and families own the group and the clinicians are guests.
Docs are often surprised by how much they learn.
Things that patients often don't tell doctors. Ninety-five percent are terrified. They imagine a deluge from patients. The other 5 percent, mostly younger physicians, find that they can have more and higher quality interactions with their patients. You can talk to 50 people via email in the time that you can talk to five people on the phone.