The adoption of mobile health management services: an empirical study.

As their populations age, many countries are facing the increasing economic pressure of providing healthcare to their people. In Taiwan, this problem is exacerbated by an increasing rate of obesity and obesity-related conditions. Encouraging the adoption of personal health management services is one way to maintain current levels of personal health and to efficiently manage the distribution of healthcare resources. This study introduces Mobile Health Management Services (MHMS) and employs the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explore the intention of students in Executive Master of Business Management programs to adopt mobile health management technology. Partial least squares (PLS) was used to analyze the collected data, and the results revealed that "perceived usefulness" and "attitude" significantly affected the behavioral intention of adopting MHMS. Both "perceived ease of use" and "perceived usefulness," significantly affected "attitude," and "perceived ease of use" significantly affected "perceived usefulness" as well. The results also show that the determinants of intention toward MHMS differed with age; young adults had higher intention to adopt MHMS to manage their personal health. Therefore, relevant governmental agencies may profitably promote the management of personal health among this population. Successful promotion of personal health management will contribute to increases in both the level of general health and the efficient management of healthcare resources.

The adoption of mobile weight management services in a virtual community: the perspective of college students.

Obesity among Taiwan college students is increasing every year. To help college students manage their weight, a prototype mobile weight management service system, the We Care for You Virtual Community (WCU VC), was designed, which would provide Web-based and cell-phone-based information services to individual participants. Conducted prior to system implementation, this study identified the factors affecting college student's intention in adopting the WCU VC as part of their weight control program. Employing the Technology Acceptance Model, factors associated with the college student's intention toward WCU VC were explored. Structural equation modeling analysis of collected data revealed that "perceived importance of health management" significantly affected the behavioral intention of adopting WCU VC services. Both "perceived importance of health management" and "perceived ease of use" had an indirect effect via "perceived usefulness" upon user's behavioral intention as well. With this knowledge of factors affecting student intention in participating in a Web-based and cell-phone-based weight control social support VC, a WCU VC system can be designed, which will promote the development of good weight management habits and contribute to the reduction in obesity-related chronic diseases among college students.

An empirical study of adopting mobile healthcare service: the family's perspective on the healthcare needs of their elderly members.

In an aging society, the issue of increased medical costs troubles both government agencies and families with aging parents. Many elderly people require long-term care, and the medical and financial problems associated with long-term care worry their entire family. Mobile healthcare service (MHS) has been widely applied by medical practitioners and researchers for years. Unfortunately, the elderly often fear both the technology and the cost its use incurs; hence, they seldom actively adopt MHS without the prompting and support of other family members. This study highlights this issue of long-term healthcare for the elderly and extracts the factors affecting their family's intentions in adopting MHS. Based on the integration of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Technology Acceptance Model, the factors associated with the family's intention of the aging people toward MHS are explored. Data were collected from 200 students in the "Job Master" track in a local "Executive Master of Business Administration" program. Half of them had at least one immediate family member who was older than 65 years of age. A partial least squares (PLS) analysis shows that "attitude" significantly affected the behavioral intention of adopting MHS, and "perceived usefulness" and "perceived ease-of-use" had an indirect effect via "attitude." The PLS model explains the variance in intention (64.1%), attitude (58.1%), and perceived usefulness (33.8%). Overall, this study shows that attitude was an important determinant of MHS adoption. Gender also significantly affected the relationship between attitude and behavioral intention to adopt MHS.

Mobile healthcare services in school-based health center.

OBJECTIVES: In Taiwan, campus health problems are placing more and more pressure on school-based health centers (SBHCs). Moreover, SBHCs have insufficient resources to actively provide follow-up healthcare for students and faculty found to be overweight, chronically ill, or at high risk. In order to improve the quality of SBHC healthcare, a project was begun to enhance the efficiency of campus healthcare services by employing web-based and cell phone-based services. This project employed the Mobile Automated Medical Alert (MAMA) system, which was designed especially for campus health center use. Before implementing the MAMA system, a focus group of healthcare related staff identified areas in which SBHC healthcare services might be improved by the system and created a questionnaire to measure student and faculty response to the proposed services. Modifications to the MAMA design and service offerings were made based upon these questionnaire results. METHOD: After the initial brainstorming session, the MAMA team created a survey instrument that was administered to students and faculty in order to understand their attitudes toward the proposed mobile healthcare services. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed to students and faculty at a private technical college in central Taiwan. RESULTS: Among the respondents, 100% had cellular phones and used short-text messages. Ninety-five percent of the student respondents and 85% of the faculty respondents agreed that mobile healthcare system would improve the quality of the health care their SBHC was currently providing. Based on these positive survey responses, the MAMA system was implemented. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The current paper describes the process by which the MAMA team brainstormed proposed services and administered their survey. Survey results and the consequent changes to the MAMA system are discussed. Finally, recommendations are made for MAMA system use and a description is offered of the impact such systems might have on the future of college campus healthcare services.

Measuring mobile patient safety information system success: an empirical study.

OBJECTIVE: The Health Risk Reminders and Surveillance (HRRS) system was designed to deliver critical abnormal test results of severely ill patients from Laboratory, Radiology, and Pathology departments to physicians within 5 min using cell phone text messages. This paper explores the success of the HRRS system. METHOD: This study employed an augmented version of the DeLone and McLean IS success model. Seven variables (system quality, information quality, system use, user satisfaction, mobile healthcare anxiety, impact on the individual and impact on the organization) were used to evaluate the success of the HRRS system. The interrelationships between the seven variables were hypothesized and the hypotheses were empirically tested. RESULTS: The results indicate that the information quality of the HRRS system is positively associated with both system use and user satisfaction. In addition, system use is positively associated with user satisfaction, which is also positively associated with mobile healthcare anxiety. Moreover, results indicate that impact on the individual is positively associated with both user satisfaction and mobile healthcare anxiety. Finally, the impact of the organization is positively associated with impact on the individual. CONCLUSION: The results of the study provide an expanded understanding of the factors that contribute to mobile patient safety information system (IS) success. Implications of the relationship between system use and physician mobile healthcare anxiety are discussed.

Mobile information and communication in the hospital outpatient service.

OBJECTIVES: Most healthcare providers provide mobile service for their medical staff; however, few healthcare providers provide mobile service as part of their outpatient service. The mobile outpatient service system (MOSS) focuses on illness treatment, illness prevention and patient relation management for outpatient service users. Initiated in a local hospital in Taiwan, the MOSS pilot project was developed to improve outpatient service quality and pursue higher patient safety. METHOD: This study focuses on the development of the MOSS. The workflow, architecture and target users of the MOSS are delineated. In addition, there were two surveys conducted as part of this study. After a focus group of medical staff identified areas in which outpatient services might be improved by the MOSS, the first survey was administered to outpatients to confirm the focus group's intuitions. The second administration of the survey explored outpatient satisfaction after they used the MOSS service. RESULTS: With regard to outpatient attitudes, about 93% of participants agreed that the mobile outpatient service improved outpatient service quality. In the area of outpatient satisfaction, about 89% of participants indicated they were satisfied with the mobile outpatient service. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Supported by our study finding, we propose that more diverse mobile outpatient services can be provided in the future.

Using mobile technology to improve healthcare service quality.

Improving healthcare service quality for illness of treatment, illness prevention and patient service is difficult for most hospitals because the hospitals are lack adequate resources and labor. In order to provide better healthcare service quality for patients, mobile technology can be used to manage healthcare in a way that provides the optimal healthcare service for patients. Pursuing utilization of mobile technology for better patient service, Taipei Medical University Municipal W. F. Teaching Hospital has implemented a mobile healthcare service (m-HS) system to increase healthcare service quality. The m-HS system improves the quality of medical care as well as healthcare service. The m-HS is a multi-functional healthcare management agent, meets the mobile tendency of the present society. This study seeks to discuss the m-HS architecture and workflow processes. We believe the m-HS does have the potential to improve healthcare service quality. Finally, the conclusions and suggestions for the m-HS are given.