Key functional characteristics in designing and operating health information websites for user satisfaction: An application of the extended technology acceptance model

OBJECTIVE With growing demand for health information and rapid development of information technology, health information websites are emerging as the most effective media to meet the public's needs for health information. This article is intended to offer a technical view on the design and operations of health information websites. Along this line, employed here is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which has been widely used to predict user acceptance based on Perceived Ease-of-Use (PEOU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU). METHODS We extend the original TAM by including some exogenous variables since it is necessary to understand the role of the antecedents of acceptance constructs when designing an effective health information website for improving user satisfaction. This study focuses on identifying the core functional factors in designing and operating health information websites. Conducted are some multivariate statistical analyses based on data from an extensive survey. RESULTS The results from the structural equation analysis suggest that functional characteristics should be categorized into three groups: one affecting PU and PEOU, another affecting only PEOU, and the other having no direct effect on either PU or PEOU. In particular, 'usage support' and 'customization' are two key functional characteristics in the extended TAM framework for health information websites. CONCLUSION Contrary to expectations, however, the direct effect of PEOU on usage support is hardly observed, which differentiates health information websites from other commercial websites like online shopping malls. As a result, understanding the antecedents of PU takes on more significance.

[1]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  A critical assessment of potential measurement biases in the technology acceptance model: three experiments , 1996, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[2]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[3]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation , 1991, Inf. Syst. Res..

[4]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Gender Differences in the Perception and Use of E-Mail: An Extension to the Technology Acceptance Model , 1997, MIS Q..

[5]  Park,et al.  Development of the Health-Information System using a Multimedia Tool. , 1997 .

[6]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[7]  Magid Igbaria,et al.  Personal Computing Acceptance Factors in Small Firms: A Structural Equation Model , 1997, MIS Q..

[8]  D. S. Simpson,et al.  Evaluating a Spoken Dialogue System for recording clinical observations during an endoscopic examination , 2003, Medical informatics and the Internet in medicine.

[9]  Gunther Eysenbach,et al.  Consumer health informatics , 2000, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[10]  Lei-da Chen,et al.  Enticing online consumers: an extended technology acceptance perspective , 2002, Inf. Manag..

[11]  Marios Koufaris,et al.  Applying the Technology Acceptance Model and Flow Theory to Online Consumer Behavior , 2002, Inf. Syst. Res..

[12]  D. DavisFred,et al.  User Acceptance of Computer Technology , 1989 .

[13]  유 혜라,et al.  The Evaluation Study of Service Quality of Tobacco Cessation Information on the Internet Web Sites in Korea , 2003 .

[14]  Fred D. Davis.  Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology , 1989, MIS Q..

[15]  Kieran Mathieson,et al.  Predicting User Intentions: Comparing the Technology Acceptance Model with the Theory of Planned Behavior , 1991, Inf. Syst. Res..

[16]  Ritu Agarwal,et al.  Are Individual Differences Germane to the Acceptance of New Information Technologies , 1999 .

[17]  Wei-Fong Kao,et al.  The development of intelligent, triage-based, mass-gathering emergency medical service PDA support systems. , 2004, The journal of nursing research : JNR.

[18]  A R Jadad,et al.  Rating health information on the Internet: navigating to knowledge or to Babel? , 1998, JAMA.

[19]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models , 1989 .

[20]  Gunther Eysenbach,et al.  Rapid Responses , 2022 .

[21]  Said S. Al-Gahtani,et al.  Attitudes, satisfaction and usage: Factors contributing to each in the acceptance of information technology , 1999, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[22]  Chul Hwan Kim,et al.  The evaluation of scientific reliability of medical information on www in Korea through analyzing hepatitis information , 2000 .

[23]  Dohoon Kim,et al.  Attributes of User-centered Evaluation for Health Information Websites , 2004 .

[24]  Hyejung Chang,et al.  Sources of Health Information by Consumer's Characteristics , 2004 .

[25]  Yoo Hye Ra,et al.  The Evaluation Study of Service Quality of Tobacco Cessation Information on the Internet Web Sites in Korea , 2003 .

[26]  Jin Kim,et al.  Criteria for the websites in Korean with health information on the Internet , 1999 .

[27]  Viswanath Venkatesh,et al.  Why Don't Men Ever Stop to Ask for Directions? Gender, Social Influence, and Their Role in Technology Acceptance and Usage Behavior , 2000, MIS Q..

[28]  C Marwick,et al.  Ensuring ethical internet information. , 2000, JAMA.

[29]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  Consumer Acceptance of Electronic Commerce: Integrating Trust and Risk with the Technology Acceptance Model , 2003, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[30]  Polun Chang,et al.  Development and Pilot Evaluation of User Acceptance of Advanced Mass-Gathering Emergency Medical Services PDA Support Systems , 2004, MedInfo.

[31]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  A Model of the Antecedents of Perceived Ease of Use: Development and Test† , 1996 .

[32]  Sonja Wiley-Patton,et al.  Test of the technology acceptance model for the internet in pediatrics , 2002, AMIA.

[33]  Fred D. Davis.  User Acceptance of Information Technology: System Characteristics, User Perceptions and Behavioral Impacts , 1993, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..