JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The rapid transition to internet hospitals has depended on medical practitioners’ resistance or adoption of new systems and workflows. Low engagement or acceptance of medical practitioners would result in access challenges for their patients. However, few investigations focus on barriers and facilitators of internet hospitals’ adoption from the perspective of medical practitioners.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to identify both enabling and inhibiting predictors associated with medical practitioners’ resistance and behavioral intentions to use internet hospitals by combining conservation of resources theory with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and technostress framework.

Methods:

A mixed-methods research design was conducted to analyze data from 16 experts in qualitative interviews and 593 medical practitioners in cross-sectional investigation across national and regional internet hospitals in China.

Results:

By conducting structural equation models, resistance to change fully mediated the influence of performance expectancy, and partially mediated the influences of social influence (Variance Accounted For [VAF]=43.3%), work overload (VAF=37.2%), and role ambiguity (VAF= 12.2%) on behavioral intentions to use internet hospitals. In addition, medical practitioners’ characteristics, including gender, age, professional title and use experience, were also significantly moderated the above influencing mechanisms.

Conclusions:

This study identified the enabling and inhibiting factors and the boundary conditions associated with medical practitioners’ resistance to change and behavioral intentions in the early stages of internet hospitals. The findings suggest the policymakers avoid the resistance and further promote the adoption of the internet hospitals by ensuring performance expectancy and social influence, and eliminating work overload and role ambiguity.