Factors Influencing Patients' Perceptions toward Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Use: A Conceptual Model

Despite the rapid technological advancements in the last decade, the adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems by hospitals and healthcare providers are far less than expected (Ford, Menachemi, and Phillips, 2006; Hsiao, Hing, Socey, and Cai, 2010). Although a large number of previous studies focused on the adoption and use of EMR systems from the healthcare professionals' perspectives, there is little research that examined this issue from the perspectives of patients. This study proposes a conceptual model that incorporates users' characteristics, their personality traits, their perceptions on privacy and security, social influence, and a number of external factors, which influence patients' perceptions toward EMR use. The proposed research model provides additional insights to the technology adoption and EMR adoption research.