Factor Influencing of Telehealth Acceptance During COVID-19 Outbreak: Extending UTAUT Model

Abstract

Telehealth has become an emerging technology since they offer remote healthcare services for infected patients or those who are worried about being infected. Furthermore, Telehealth can provide routine care without the risk of contracting Covid-19. Although Telehealth offers many potential benefits, the challenge was to encourage people to use them. Research related to Telehealth adoption in Indonesia is still limited, so there is still a lack of understanding regarding their behavior intentions in using Telehealth. One of the most widely used theories to explain Telehealth adoption is the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). However, doctors' opinion and computer anxiety variables have never been applied in the UTAUT model to analyze Telehealth use behavior, especially for cases in Indonesia during the Covid-19 outbreak. In addition, many researchers point out the importance of both variables in the healthcare context increasing the need for examining this feature. This paper discusses it for the first time. The survey was conducted by distributing online questionnaires via Google Docs to 118 Indonesian respondents who have used Telehealth. The results show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions significantly affect behavior intention to use Telehealth. Social Influence is not significantly associated with behavioral intention since early adopters are considered reluctant to other views. Moreover, performance expectancy is significantly affected by doctor’s opinions and effort expectancy is strongly influenced by computer anxiety.