Patient Acceptance of e-Health Services in Saudi Arabia: An Integrative Perspective

Background: e-Health has been expansively considered as a technological intervention for fundamental enhancement in the healthcare sector to mitigate the enormous demand and supply of healthcare in both developed and developing nations. In 2000, the Saudi government established a committee for health reform to develop an information technology strategic plan for healthcare and for deploying e-health applications within the country. The objective of e-health systems was to provide better healthcare to patients and to increase the efficiency of healthcare organizations. Despite numerous e-health interventions to provide healthcare services, very little is studied about the adoption process of e-health from users' viewpoints in Saudi Arabia. This study minimizes this knowledge gap by studying the factors affecting the adoption and acceptance of e-health in the context of Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This study has combined the Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior frameworks to evaluate the factors influencing the patient acceptance of e-health services in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from patients at various private and public hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The partial least square technique based on structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the survey data. Results: The study shows the significant influence of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on the attitude. Furthermore, attitude and subjective norm (p < 0.05) significantly influence patient behavioral intention (BI) to use e-health services. However, perceived behavioral control (p > 0.05) had no significant influence on patient BI to use e-health services. Conclusions: The findings of this study might be useful to policymakers, the government, and healthcare service providers in Saudi Arabia and other developing countries.