Exploring Key Factors in the Choice of e-Health Using an Asthma Care Mobile Service Model

Asthma care mobile service (ACMS) is a care platform for asthma patients using mobile phones to monitor asthma patients' real-time conditions. The anticipated benefits and development of the health-care network platform rely on people's adoptive willingness and behavioral intention. The goal of this study is to understand and predict patients' acceptance behavior for ACMS as an application of e-health. The study is based on the technology acceptance model and integrates "subjective norm" and "innovativeness" to understand and predict the patient's attitude and behavioral intention. Employing a convenience sampling method, valid questionnaire responses were obtained from 229 patients. A confirmatory factor analysis examined the reliability and validity of the measurement model, while the structural equation modeling technique was employed to interpret the causal model. The model was used in the study to explain and predict the utilization of ACMS with a high explanatory power as a good-fit model. The results indicated the most critical factor that affects behavioral intentions related to ACMS is user attitude, followed by perceived usefulness, subjective norm, perceived ease of use, and innovativeness. The results provide the government developing high-tech, preventive medicine strategies the necessary data to define an appropriate policy to use in attracting greater participation in the effort.