The effect of confidentiality and privacy concerns on adoption of personal health record from patient's perspective

With the adoption of Personal Health Record (PHR), patients take an active role in monitoring their health and can store and access a wide array of credible health information. However, patients are often concerned about the confidentiality and privacy of their health information in PHR. This study was carried out to determine the effect of confidentiality and privacy concerns on PHR adoption. This was a cross - sectional study in which 175 patients referred to teaching hospitals of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences were randomly selected. Patients' perception regarding the effect of confidentiality and privacy concern on PHR adoption was examined by an extended model of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Collected data were analyzed by correlation and regression tests. The final model was tested by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and presented by AMOS. The results show that the extended model of TAM, proposed in this study, can explain about 63% of the variance of the PHR adoption. Also, the results confirmed the significant effect of confidentiality and privacy concerns about PHR adoption. PHR adoption has several significant advantages both to patients and health care providers. This study clearly acknowledged that confidentiality and privacy concerns were two main obstacles that should be considered when comprehensive implementation of PHR is in progress.