Use of online systems in clinical medical assessments: an analysis of physician acceptance of online disability evaluation systems

In today´s world of ever increasing amounts of information, hospitals and medical groups must continually find ways to manage the myriad information that is gathered on patients. This reality makes the field of medicine well suited to benefit from integrative and online information systems. However, research reveals that at times physicians resist the use of information technology (IT) in the clinical setting. This paper seeks to develop a conceptual model for physician acceptance and test this socio-work structure model using a nationwide survey of physicians (n=141) conducted by the authors. The domain focus of this study is physician acceptance of an online disability evaluation system for generating and managing medical examination reports. The survey measured whether behavioral intention to use the new system varied as a function of IT infrastructure, organizational processes relating to IT, physician experience with computer use in clinical settings, and both specific and general attitudes toward IT use in clinical settings. Survey findings suggest that each of these factors affects behavioral intention to use online disability evaluation systems, and that these factors are more important than generalized attitudes toward online systems or socio-demographic predictors. These findings suggest that work-system variables are important when considering physicians use of online systems. This extends traditional use of TAM to consider organizational factors when analyzing the acceptance decision.