An Empirical Evaluation of Factors Influencing Patients' Reactions to the Implementation of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs)

Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) offer the potential to fundamentally transform the healthcare system, yet little is known on what happens if healthcare organizations adopt HIEs but patients refuse to allow their health information to be exchanged electronically among healthcare providers. This work attempts to extend the application of privacy calculus theory in the HIE domain by developing and testing a model centered on the perceived benefits, perceived risks, and their antecedents to predict consumers' opt-in behavioral intention toward HIEs. We conducted an online survey in the USA using 740 samples. The results demonstrate that the advantages of HIEs compared with the traditional exchange options meaningfully contribute to perceived benefits of HIEs. Moreover, trust in HIE models, the transparency of data exchange, and the degree of control over data access significantly attenuate perceived risks of HIEs. The model proposed by this study can be used as a useful conceptual tool for both researchers and practitioners to examine the complex nature of patients' reactions to the use of HIEs.