Factors affecting adoption of a telemedicine device by primary care health workers in the Philippines

@#<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background and Introduction.</strong> The RxBox is a telemedicine device that measures and transmits vital signs to remote experts. It has been deployed to primary care health centers (PCHC) in the Philippines serving disadvantaged populations, to decrease morbidity and mortality due to common diseases and poor access to care. Factors affecting its adoption by healthcare workers is unknown.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Materials and Methods.</strong> The study determined social and behavioral factors that affect adoption of a telemedicine device into the clinical workflow using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. This is a mixed methods research using review of records, survey and focused group discussions.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Results and Discussion.</strong> RxBox telemedicine devices were installed in 79 primary care health centers (PCHC) and were used a total of 15,705 times within the study period. An ordinary least squares regression analysis using the combined site and individual-level data showed that among the UTAUT parameters, only compatibility, facilitating conditions, and social factors have significant relationships with intent-to-use of the RxBox. The innovation assisted primary care health workers in their clinical responsibilities, improved the stature of their PCHC in the community, and helped in the care for patients. Training and technology support after deployment as well as encouragement by peer and champions (the PCHC physician, local government leaders) reinforced continuous use after training. Users described the experienced improvements in quality of services provided by the PCHC and the consequent benefits to their patients.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions.</strong> These factors should be accounted for in designing strategies to reinforce health workers' attitudes and enhance support towards acceptance and use of novel telemedicine devices into clinical routine in local health centers. Lessons are immediately useful for local leaders in low- and lower middle-income countries that suffer disproportionately from unnecessary maternal deaths and mortality due to non-communicable diseases. This contributes to the body of knowledge and should bolster national-level advocacy to institute an enabling policy on telehealth Information Communication Technology (ICT) and use of Filipino innovations towards health systems strengthening. Results can be used by implementers, evaluators, and regulators of health ICT, especially in resource-poor settings. Likewise, the study can encourage more research in the field to spur more dynamic local health ICT and biomedical device industries.</p>

Research on the prevention and control of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia for Internet-based hospitals using UTAUT-DST model / 中华医院管理杂志

Thanks to the transmission characteristics of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia, Internet-based hospitals can effectively cut off the transmission route via online consulting service. The hospital, leveraging the UTAUT model and DST theory, and advantages of Internet-based hospitals, is deploying step by step such four modules, as "pre-hospital screening", "patient acceptance", "auxiliary diagnosis and treatment", and "prevention and control linkage". These efforts ultimately contribute to an innovative prevention and control pattern against the novel coronary pneumonia for Internet-based hospitals and based on the UTAUT-DST model. This practice proves an initial success, and offers useful references for prevention and control of the NCP and development of other Internet-based hospitals.

Perception of Influencing Factors on Acceptance of Mobile Health Monitoring Service: A Comparison between Users and Non-users / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVES: To improve and promote mobile health monitoring services, this study investigated the perception of various factors influencing the acceptance of services between users and non-users. METHODS: This study drew 9 variables from studies related to mobile health monitoring services and the unified theory of acceptance and the use of technology model. A total of 219 samples were collected by a paper-based survey from users (n = 106) and non-users (n = 113). Analysis was carried out using a two-independent samples t-test. RESULTS: The findings indicate that users have a more positive perception of service benefits than non-users. Although there were difference between users and non-users, all respondents had a positive perception of the service benefits. After users used the service, they were less concerned about the risks involved with it. However, both users and non-users had a high negative perception of service risk. Users also had a more positive perception of intimacy and communication associated with the services than non-users. Both users and non-users had a high behavioral intention to use the services. Finally, this study observed that older subjects tended to recognize the higher value of the services. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insights to improve and invigorate mobile health monitoring services. This study also offers insights into how to increase the number of users of mobile health monitoring services in South Korea.