Factors Influencing Consumer Adoption of Electronic Health Records

Electronic health records (EHRs) are electronic versions of longitudinal individual health records that are easily accessible and can be shared among relevant stakeholders. Their use can contribute to improved health outcomes. This research aimed to identify the key factors influencing healthcare consumer adoption of EHRs by testing an EHR consumer adoption model that extends the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior to include security and privacy concerns and perceived health literacy. The model explained 65% of the variation in intention tgo use EHRs, with attitude and subjective norm as the key factors directly influencing it. Security and privacy concerns were found to be an important predictor of attitude toward EHRs, but contrary to expectations perceived health literacy did not play a role. These results can inform healthcare educators and professionals, as well as government policymakers as they try to better understand EHR acceptance from a consumer perspective.