| Summary: | 碩士 === 長榮大學 === 醫務管理學系碩士班 === 102 === Objective The services provided by the medical industry have gradually changed with changes in social environment and advancement of information technology. For instance, telehealth is one of the services that have emerged and drawn increasing attention in recent years. However, every change has uncertainties, so some “innovations” may not be accepted by the general public. This study investigated people’s concern about and acceptance of the “telehealth” innovation and the correlation between the two variables.
Method Data were collected from a cross-sectional survey administered to Internet users selected by purposive sampling during Feb 22~Apr 7, 2013. 413 responses were returned, and 411 of them were valid (99.5% valid response rate). The questionnaire consisted of demographic information, stage of concern scale, and UTAUT scale. In addition to analysis of descriptive statistics and differences across variables, this study performed hierarchical regression analysis to examine how stages of concern and levels of technology acceptance respectively affect usage intention.
Results Overall, the respondents showed a low level of concern about and acceptance of telehealth. However, those with a chronic disease or experience with telehealth showed significantly higher concern about and acceptance of this innovation (p<0.01). The regression analysis indicated that “social influence” was positively related to “behavioral intention” (β=-0.456, p<0.001), and this relationship between “social influence” and “behavioral intention” (β=-0.436, p<0.001) was moderated by “experience” (β=-0.099, p<0.023). It should be noted that after the effect of stages of concern was considered, the total variance explained increased by nearly 9% (∆R2 =0.087, F change=8.066, p<0.001). The effects of “information” (β=-0.233, p=0.009) and “refocusing” (β=0.282, p<0.001) on “behavioral intention” were significant.
Conclusion Diffusion of an innovation cannot be achieved overnight. It is foreseeable that many nations will be confronted with population aging and a rising demand for healthcare services. Hence, proper coping strategies should be drawn first. Results suggested that respondents with lower levels of concern about telehealth tended to show higher acceptance of this innovation. In other words, some changes can be made to the way information is communicated so as to increase people’s intention to use telehealth. Besides, service providers of telehealth should listen to suggestions and react to them properly. This is because people who are willing to provide suggestions about an innovation tend to have more concern about this innovation and are more likely to have higher intention to use it.
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