Understanding Patient Portal Use Intentions: Enablers and Inhibitors of IT Use

This research explores factors that influence patient’s intentions to use a hospital’s patient portal. Specifically, we investigate patient portal use intentions using two different perspectives: enablers of IT use (patient need for healthcare empowerment and healthcare professional encouragement) and inhibitors of IT use (privacy and security concerns). Drawing on theories of privacy calculus and protection motivation, we propose a research model to assess the relationships between the enablers and inhibitors of IT use as well as their effects on patient portal adoption. We will administer a survey questionnaire to existing patients of a major hospital in the Midwest and employ the structural equation modeling approach to test the research model.