Technology Acceptance and Adoption of Innovative Smartphone Uses Among Hospital Employees

Objectives: The number of healthcare institutions adopting smartphones continues to increase, implying that their utilization is undoubtedly gaining attention. Understanding the needs of smartphone users will provide a greater opportunity for successful information technology acceptance by expanding the scope of its utilization. This study focuses on how smartphones are accepted and utilized in hospitals and analyzes the factors influencing users' attitude, social influence, and intention of use.

Methods: For the study model, the researcher has mainly adopted the Theory of Reasoned Action and further modified and used the models of Technology Acceptance and Information Systems Success. To test the model empirically, a survey was conducted with 122 professionals on information development teams in Korean tertiary hospitals.

Results: The common smartphone usage modes were Internet searching, e-mail, scheduling, and social networking in consecutive order. Phone calls consisted of 51.4% of work-related purposes, while other functions, such as text message, Web browser, and scheduling, were mostly used for personal purposes. Costs, contents quality, innovation, ease of use, and support were shown to have statistically significant effects on user attitude, and social influence, portability, security, content quality, and innovation were significant. User attitude and social influence were both statistically significant with respect to intention of use, with user attitude greater than social influence.

Conclusions: The participating staff were analyzed as having strong personal faith and principles, independent from their external environment. Timely information exchanges among medical staff will facilitate appropriate communication and improved health services to patients in need.