What factors affect physicians' decisions to use an e-health care system?

Prior studies have not explored physician’s attitudes toward, and behavior and willingness to accept an e-health care system. However, physicians can induce demand for their services. The development of the high-tech asthma care mobile service (ACMS) in Taiwan provided a means of exploring key factors in a physician’s choice of using an ACMS. The study was based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and integrated “subjective norm,” “innovativeness,” and “managerial support” to understand and predict physicians’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward adopting high-tech healthcare systems such as the ACMS. Of 700 questionnaires distributed to physicians with experience using ACMS, 504 completed returns were received (a 72% response rate). The data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) method. The results of the study showed that the model selected to explain and predict utilization of the ACMS had high explanatory power and was a good-fit model. The most critical factor that affected behavioral intentions related to ACMS was user attitude, followed by perceived usefulness, managerial support, subjective norm, perceived ease of use, and innovativeness.