Digital transition in rural emergency medicine: Impact of job satisfaction and workload on communication and technology acceptance

Abstract

Background Tele-emergency physicians (TEPs) take an increasingly important role in the need-oriented provision of emergency patient care. To improve emergency medicine in rural areas, we set up the project ‘Rural|Rescue’, which uses TEPs to restructure professional rescue services using information and communication technologies (ICTs) in order to reduce the therapy-free interval. Successful implementation of ICTs relies on user acceptance and knowledge sharing behavior. Method We conducted a factorial design with active knowledge transfer and technology acceptance as a function of work satisfaction (high vs. low), workload (high vs. low) and point in time (prior to vs. after digitalization). Data were collected via machine readable questionnaires issued to 755 persons (411 pre, 344 post), of which 304 or 40.3% of these persons responded (194 pre, 115 post). Results Technology acceptance was higher after the implementation of TEP for nurses but not for other professions, and it was higher when the workload was high. Regarding active communication and knowledge sharing, employees with low work satisfaction are more likely to share their digital knowledge as compared to employees with high work satisfaction. This is an effect of previous knowledge concerning digitalization: After implementing the new technology, work satisfaction increased for the more experienced employees, but not for the less experienced ones. Conclusion Our research illustrates that employees’ workload has an impact on the intention of using digital applications. The higher the workload, the more people are willing to use TEPs. Regarding active knowledge sharing, we see that employees with low work satisfaction are more likely to share their digital knowledge compared to employees with high work satisfaction. This might be attributed to the Dunning-Kruger effect. Highly knowledgeable employees initially feel uncertain about the change, which translates into temporarily lower work satisfaction. They feel the urge to fill even small knowledge gaps, which in return leads to higher work satisfaction. Those responsible need to acknowledge that digital change affects their employees’ workflow and work satisfaction. During such times, employees need time and support to gather information and knowledge in order to cope with digitally changed tasks.

Individual perspectives and mental maps of working conditions and intention to stay of physicians in academic medicine

“…The 14 items satisfaction scale had a satisfactory reliability of Cronbach's alpha = 0.78. In other studies the same scale within the PhysicianPlus project (Hasebrook et al, 2016b;Hinkelmann et al, 2017; as well as in another project (Hasebrook et al, 2022) the scale was found to be highly reliable between an Cronbach's Alpha of 0.91 to 0.78 . In this study, items show low intercorrelations (see Supplementary Appendix 5).…”

Optimization of Rural Demand-Responsive Transportation through Transfer Point Allocation

“…A prevalent problem in rural areas is the lack of acceptance of digitization of everyday tasks, which is more pronounced than in its urban counterparts [21,22]. In this line, flexible transportation systems, particularly in rural areas, face the challenge of their adoption rate.…”

Population Dynamics in Digital Communication Transformation: Kajang Community in Bulukumba Regency

“…However, there are still obstacles, including technology acceptance (AlDreabi et al, 2023;Ibrahim et al, 2023). Although digital transformation in communications offers many opportunities, not all individuals or communities accept these technologies quickly or have a sufficient understanding of how to use them effectively (Hasebrook et al, 2023;Thanomsing & Sharma, 2024). Inequalities in technology acceptance can strengthen social inequalities, limit participation in the digital economy, and exacerbate population disparities (Dutot, 2014;Ma et al, 2021).…”