Exploring patient's intention towards e-health consultation using an extended UTAUT model

Purpose This research explores the factors that influence patients' willingness to seek digital health advice in developing countries like India by extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) with perceived risk (PR) and trust. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses proposed for this study. The primary data for this study were acquired from 578 respondents using a judgmental sampling procedure. Findings Results of this investigation reflected a positive and significant connexion of the intention of a patient towards e-health consultation with effort expectancy (EE), performance expectancy (PE), trust and social influence (SI); conversely, factors like facilitating condition (FC) and PR are not significantly connected with the same. Originality/value The findings of this study will not only add to the existing literature on the behavioral intention (BI) by introducing new dimensions in the context of digital health consultation, but they will also aid service providers in developing strategies to encourage the use of e-health consultation services in emerging economies such as India.