M-health Services Equipped with Public-Sector Community Health Centers in China: Investigating Adoption using UTAUT and Channel Expansion Theory

Abstract

Background: This study is to investigate the acceptance of a public-private joint venture, which is formed in-between public-sector community health centers (PCHC) and private-sector m-health service providers and can be a potential solution for two practical problems. The first problem is about PCHCs, which are operating about forty-one percent underutilization rates. The second problem is the lack of a revenue-generating business model for m-health service providers' while having a surprising number of registered users with daily health-care consultation queries. This joint venture will help to bridge the strengths of the public-sector health-care system (e.g., highly qualified doctors, offline health-care facilities) with the strengths of private-sector m-health service providers (e.g., a dramatic number of registered users, daily health-care consultation queries) resulting in a win-win situation for both parties. Methods: The data collected from doctors associated with a territory hospital in Hefei, China, and analyzed using partial least squares, a structural equation modeling technique. Results: This study extended the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology with the channel expansion theory. We explored that perceived media richness, government support, effort, and performance expectancies positively influence behavioral intention to deliver health-care consultation using m-health services that are equipped with PCHCs. Surprisingly, social influence and facilitating conditions found insignificant in the Chinese context. Conclusion: It can help the government healthcare authorities, and policymakers to build confidence in PCHCs, and to improve PCHC resource utilization. It can help m-health service providers to build confidence in m-health services resulting in a revenue-generating business model.