Understanding demographic influence on teleconsultation acceptance in hospitals: a mixed-method study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore and understand the influence of demographic factors on teleconsultation acceptance in Malaysian government hospitals. The materials of this study are based on an exploratory mixed-method study involving semi-structured interviews with key informants and questionnaires survey of health care providers. The prominent influence of demographic aspects over the acceptance of teleconsultation technology from the mixed methods standpoint is further discussed. The findings of both results provide evidence to suggest that teleconsultation acceptance differs across the types of hospital, distance between referring and referral hospital, role of teleconsultation, and user’s computer ability. Interestingly, user’s age, user’s experience, urgency of case and presence of alternatives were not present as strong factors to influence teleconsultation acceptance in Malaysian government hospitals. In respect to theoretical development and future work, the categories that were generated from these studies may be used for the testability and development of demographics measures in exploring acceptance and adoption of technology in health care environment.