Understanding barriers of telemedicine adoption: A study in North India

Abstract

The study develops a theoretical framework that highlights facets of perceived risk and their relationship with behavioural intention. Previous literature highlights that the higher the risk perceived by doctors, the more prospects that they will not adopt telemedicine. Therefore, addressing these risks will help doctors to overcome their apprehensions about telemedicine. The data were collected through field as well as an online survey. An online survey link was shared with doctors of various hospitals in North India. The final sample consisted of 215 observations. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to validate the hypothesized relationships among constructs. The results confirmed that social risk, time risk, technology risk and security risk had a negative impact on behavioural intention. Surprisingly, financial risk emerged as an insignificant construct. This study contributes to literature by presenting and validating a theory-driven framework that unveils the facets of perceived risk as barriers to telemedicine adoption.

Understanding the Drivers of Ghanaian Citizens' Adoption Intentions of Mobile Health Services

“…Furthermore, the test of the perceived risk construct showed that perceived risk was a negative but significant predictor of both intention to use and intention to recommend the adoption of m-health services. The negative but significant impact of perceived risk on the intention to use mobile health services agrees with the findings of other studies that reported that perceived risk is a significant determinant of the intention to use ( 3 , 122 , 123 ). This finding is a departure from studies that revealed perceived risk showed an insignificant impact on behavioral intention to use ( 124 ).…”

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

“…We define UI toward telemedicine services as the intention of a subject to accept remote healthcare services using electronic information technology [ 17 ]. Prior studies have also confirmed the direct relationship between the intention to use and the actual use of a service, and many studies use intention as a predictor of the actual use of telemedicine services [ 11 , 18 ]. Therefore, UI is a dependent variable in our study.…”

“…Financial risk (FNR) refers to the potential for monetary loss due to transaction errors or subsequent maintenance cost of the product/service [ 11 ]. Uncertainty about insurance coverage and reimbursement for telemedicine service has historically been a major barrier to adoption.…”

“…A nationwide survey in the US emphasized the importance of addressing the concern that respondents become less willing to use telemedicine as they become further detached from their own provider [ 37 ]. Finally, time risk (TMR) was defined as loss of time and the resulting inconvenience incurred due to delays in finding appropriate services as well as loss of time while learning and using a particular technology [ 11 ]. Most users prefer not to use medical services that require significant usage time [ 38 ].…”

“…Therefore, numerous studies have explored perceived risks in relation to the societal adoption of such technologies [ 7 ]. The perceived risk theory has become popular and has been applied in various fields relating to new product and technology acceptance, such as online shopping behavior [ 8 ], Internet banking [ 9 ], blockchain [ 10 ], and telemedicine [ 11 ]. Thus far, studies have evidenced some of the factors that affect the adoption of telemedicine services, including technological availability, lack of knowledge, technology anxiety, perceived risks, time constraints, privacy, and security concerns, but also organizational issues and environmental factors [ 12 ].…”