an empirical examination of patient-physician portal acceptance

An empirical study involving 117 subjects in the United States was used to test the proposed model. Using the partial least squares method, social power, and imitate-the-successful social heuristics were found to significantly influence patient portal acceptance among the elderly.

Full Answer

2. Research Model and Hypotheses

As virtual communities, online health communities (OHCs) can be divided into three categories from the aspects of users: (1) one which is only for patients to discuss health-related topics, and share and exchange information; (2) one which is for patients to ask for help from physicians and for physicians to publish health-related information; and (3) one which is only for physicians to exchange and share their professional knowledge.

3. Materials and Methods

This study used the multiple-item scale with a 5-point Likert-type response format that ranged from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” to measure each construct covering six variables in the research model, as shown in Table 1.

Funding

This research was funded by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, grant number (2019YJS056). The APC was funded by (R.Z.).

Why do physicians use e-mail?

Physicians, eager to provide high-quality care and forced by competition to offer online services, will introduce e-mail and patient-friendly Web sites to improve administrative services and manage common medical conditions. Patients will identify more health information online and will take more responsibility for their care.

What information do patients seek on the web?

Patients now seek information on the Web mainly about complaints, syndromes and diseases, drugs, nutrition, and fitness. 3 Many now arm themselves with reports of all kinds—from controlled trials to hearsay—and this trend will increase. More than in the past, they will expect their doctors to interpret such information. Patients also will demand better service: immediate access to care; responses twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to their questions; efficient scheduling; personal electronic record keeping; and regular communications from their doctors such as therapeutic advances and reminders of appointments. Patients will expect such services to be tailored to their specific needs. They will expect to receive timely electronic exchanges with doctors' offices and will insist on assurances that electronic information on their health will not be shared without their permission. Patients will use e-mail and the Web to get information that doctors know little about, such as home health services, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and local suppliers of medical equipment. They also will draw emotional support not only from their doctors, but from far-flung people in online chat rooms and disease-focused interest groups.

Why do doctors use the internet?

Many doctors use the Internet now, but most use it to search databases for medical information or for commercial transactions. There are no reliable or consistent data on the number of physicians who use e-mail regularly for clinical encounters. Many physicians will resist the scenarios described above.

Why is it important for physicians to respond to patient inquiries?

Physicians' ability to respond to patient inquiries will be more convenient because of the asynchronous nature of e-mail, although with video cameras and substantial increases in bandwidth, patients and doctors will be able to interact simultaneously.

What is the most powerful influence on the trust that patients have in physicians' opinions, judgments, and recommendations?

The repeated personal interaction between patients and doctors is one of the most powerful influences on the trust that patients have in physicians' opinions, judgments, and recommendations. Intensely private and personal conversations and the “laying on of hands” during examinations are essential bases of this trust.

Why is email used in medicine?

E-mail will be used as an adjunct to direct patient encounters, not instead of them. Using patients' test results from reliable home monitoring equipment, physicians will adjust doses of drugs. Access to patients' electronic records and test results will be vastly enhanced.

What is the role of the government in electronic health information?

An essential role for the federal government is to enact strong laws that ensure patient privacy and confidentiality. Following passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996, many bills have been introduced in Congress, and action on them is pending. 16

Background

General practices (GPs) in England have recently introduced a nationwide electronic personal health record (ePHR) system called Patient Online or GP online services, which allows patients to view parts of their medical records, book appointments, and request prescription refills. Although this system is free of charge, its adoption rates are low.

Objective

The aim of this study is to explore patients’ perspectives of factors affecting their use of ePHRs in England.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was carried out between August 21 and September 26, 2017. A questionnaire was used in this survey to collect mainly quantitative data through closed-ended questions in addition to qualitative data through an open-ended question. A convenience sample was recruited in 4 GPs in West Yorkshire, England.

Results

Of the 800 eligible patients invited to participate in the survey, 624 (78.0%) returned a fully completed questionnaire. Of those returned questionnaires, the open-ended question was answered by 136/624 (21.8%) participants. A total of 2 meta-themes emerged from participants’ responses.

Conclusions

The challenges and concerns that impede the use of Patient Online seem to be of greater importance than the facilitators that encourage its use. There are practical considerations that, if incorporated into the system, are likely to improve its adoption rate: Patient Online should be useful, easy to use, secure, and easy to access.

Background

Over the past 2 decades, there has been a rapid and widespread diffusion of electronic personal health records (ePHRs) in health care institutes [ 1 ]. The Markle Foundation defines ePHRs as web-based portals that enable users to access their medical records stored by their health care providers [ 2 ].

Research Problem and Aim

Despite the potential benefits of ePHRs, their adoption rate in England was only 28% by the end of June 2019 [ 20 ]. Identifying the factors affecting patients’ use of ePHRs is important to improve patients’ adoption and the implementation success of ePHRs [ 21 - 25 ].