User Acceptance of Picture Archiving and Communication System in the Emergency Department

Background: Picture archiving and communication system (PACS) has allowed the medical images to be transmitted, stored, retrieved, and displayed in different locatiodns of a hospital or health system. Using PACS in the emergency department will eventually result in improved efficiency and patient care. In spite of the abundant benefits of employing PACS, there are some challenges in implementing this technology like users' resistance to accept the technology, which has a critical role in PACS success. Objectives: In this study, we will assess and compare user acceptance of PACS in the emergency departments of three different hospitals and investigate the effect of socio-demographic factors on this acceptance. Materials and Methods: A variant of technology acceptance model (TAM) has been used in order to measure the acceptance level of PACS in the emergency department of three educational hospitals in Iran. A previously used questionnaire was validated and utilized to collect the study data. A stepwise multiple regression model was used to predict factors influencing acceptance score as the dependent variable. Results: Mean age of participants was 32.9 years (standard deviation [SD] = 6.08). Participants with the specialty degree got a higher acceptance score than the three other groups (Mean +/- SD = 4.17 +/- 0.20). Age, gender, degree of PACS usage and participant's occupation (profession) did not influence the acceptance score. In our multiple regression model, all three variables of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU) and the effect of PACS (change) had a significant effect in the prediction of acceptance. The most influencing factor was change with the beta of 0.22 (P value < 0.001). Conclusion: PACS is highly accepted in all three emergency departments especially among specialists. PU, PEU and change are factors influencing PACS acceptance. Our study can be used as an evidence of PACS acceptance in emergency wards.