Implementation of Online Hospitals and Factors Influencing the Adoption of Mobile Medical Services in China: Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Autor: Huanlin Wang, Chun Lin Du, Yong Kang Wu, Lan Yu Liang
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Telemedicine
China
Health Knowledge
Attitudes
Practice

020205 medical informatics
Adolescent
Cross-sectional study
media_common.quotation_subject
Distribution (economics)
online hospital
Health Informatics
02 engineering and technology
Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology
Structural equation modeling
mobile medical service
03 medical and health sciences
Young Adult
0302 clinical medicine
Empirical research
0202 electrical engineering
electronic engineering
information engineering

medicine
Humans
Quality (business)
030212 general & internal medicine
media_common
Expectancy theory
Original Paper
business.industry
COVID-19
Middle Aged
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Hospitals
Cross-Sectional Studies
Socioeconomic Factors
Family medicine
Health Care Surveys
Female
UTAUT
business
Psychology
Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology
Zdroj: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
ISSN: 2291-5222
Popis: Background Online hospitals are part of an innovative model that allows China to explore telemedicine services based on national conditions with large populations, uneven distribution of medical resources, and lack of quality medical resources, especially among residents needing to be protected from COVID-19 infection. Objective In this study, we built a hypothesis model based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) in order to analyze the factors that may influence patients’ willingness to use mobile medical services. This research was designed to assist in the development of mobile medical services. Residents who do not live in urban areas and cannot access medical assistance would greatly benefit from this research, as they could immediately go to the online hospital when needed. Methods A cross-sectional study based at the West China Hospital, Sichuan University, was conducted in July 2020. A total of 407 respondents, 18 to 59 years old, in Western China were recruited by convenience sampling. We also conducted an empirical test for the hypothesis model and applied structural equation modeling to estimate the significance of path coefficients so that we could better understand the influencing factors. Results Out of 407 respondents, 95 (23.3%) were aware of online hospitals, while 312 (76.7%) indicated that they have never heard of online hospitals before. Gender (P=.048) and education level (P=.04) affected people’s willingness to use online hospitals, and both of these factors promoted the use of online hospitals (odds ratio [OR] 2.844, 95% CI 1.010-8.003, and OR 2.187, 95% CI 1.031-4.636, respectively). According to structural equation modeling, the results of the path coefficient analysis indicated that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions have positive effects on patients’ willingness to use online hospitals. Conclusions The goal of our research was to determine the factors that influence patients’ awareness and willingness to use online hospitals. Currently, the public’s awareness and usage of online hospitals is low. In fact, effort expectancy was the most important factor that influenced the use of online hospitals; being female and having a high education also played positive roles toward the use of mobile medical services.
Databáze: OpenAIRE