Adoption and Usage of Healthcare Portals: Examining the Factors Influencing Consumers' Decisions

Healthcare portals provide abundant information to consumers. This study examines the factors influencing consumers' decisions to adopt and continue using healthcare portals. A research model is developed using constructs from past Information Systems IS literature. Research hypotheses derived from this model were empirically validated using a filed survey. Data collected from the survey N=269 was tested for adoption N=181, individuals who have not used healthcare portals and continuance N=88, individuals who have used healthcare portals separately. According to the results, more than usefulness and ease of use of healthcare portals, trust and satisfaction emerged as the main factors determining adoption and continuance respectively. Further, this data was grouped on gender and analyzed to see the effect of gender on consumers' decisions. In light of these findings, theoretical and practical implications for understanding the consumers' decisions in using healthcare portals are discussed.