Barriers to Telemedicine Adoption during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan: Comparison of Perceived Risks by Socioeconomic Status Correlates

Abstract

Telemedicine is the use of technology to deliver healthcare services from a distance. In some countries, telemedicine became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its increasing popularity provides new research opportunities to unveil users’ perceptions toward its adoption and continued use. Existing studies have provided limited information and understanding of Taiwanese users and the various sociodemographic factors that influence their intention to use telemedicine services. Thus, the goals of this study were twofold: identifying the dimensions of perceived risks of telemedicine services in Taiwan and providing specific responses to those perceptions as well as determining strategies to promote telemedicine to local policymakers and influencers by providing a better understanding of the perceived risks in relation to socioeconomic status. We collected 1000 valid responses using an online survey and found performance risk to be the main barrier, which was followed by psychological, physical, and technology risks. Older adults with lower levels of education are less likely to use telemedicine services compared to other categories because of multiple perceived risks, including social and psychological concerns. Understanding the differences in perceived risks of telemedicine services by socioeconomic status may aid in identifying the actions required to overcome barriers and may consequently improve adoption of the technology and user satisfaction.

Awareness, Attitude, and Perception of Telemedicine Among Trinidad and Tobago Population

“…These highlighted barriers such as technological unfamiliarity, concern for privacy and accuracy of results recorded in the current study. It is evident that performance, encompassing result accuracy hinders telemedicine adoption [48]. However, it should be noted that privacy risks do not consistently deter the adoption of technology-driven healthcare [22].…”

“…However, it should be noted that privacy risks do not consistently deter the adoption of technology-driven healthcare [22]. Other recorded barriers in previous studies were resistance to change, high cost of technology, underdeveloped infrastructure, shortage of technical staff expertise, healthcare provider resistance to change, patient’s resistance to change, lack of training on information technology, cultural aspects, legal issues, patient’s age, and patient’s education level [35,48].…”

Enhancing the implementation of provider-to-provider telehealth in rural and remote areas: A mixed methods study protocol

“… 47 Perceived risk has been shown to be a common barrier and precedent to the acceptance and adoption of technology and virtual healthcare services. 48 Measures of risk to be included are based on Cunningham's 49 major dimensions of perceived risk, plus additional categories appropriate to technology and service adoption. 48 These categories are financial, performance, technological, psychological, social, physical, privacy, provider, and time.…”

“… 48 Measures of risk to be included are based on Cunningham's 49 major dimensions of perceived risk, plus additional categories appropriate to technology and service adoption. 48 These categories are financial, performance, technological, psychological, social, physical, privacy, provider, and time. The three-item provider report of sustainment scale 40 will be integrated into part 4 of the survey to assess sustainment.…”

Understanding the acceptance of multisided teleconsultation platforms: a critical analysis and proposal of a theorical model

“…It encompasses the risks of technology failure, data breaches, privacy concerns, and the overall reliability and security of the telemedicine platform (Mensah, 2022;Wu & Ho, 2023). (Bhattacherjee & Hikmet, 2008;Ouimet et al, 2020).…”