Physician and consumer acceptance of the traditional chinese medicine clinical practice support system (TCMCPSS)

Although ICT-enabled clinical practices have been widely accepted by the Western medical society, informatics applications for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are under developed. An integrated traditional Chinese medicine clinical practice support system (TCMCPSS) has been developed to enhance data integration automation and treatment planning decision support of clinical practice of TCM. The acceptance of TCMCPSS had been assessed by 26 TCM physicians based on information clarity, clinical relevancy, and theoretical relevancy through a survey questionnaire using the 5-points Likert Scale. The average acceptance rate was 3.76. One hundred and fifty-four participants were recruited for the TCMCPSS feasibility study and reported the acceptance rate of 90%. The results indicated that while consumers were ready to embrace TCM practice assisted by informatics technologies, TCM physicians concerned more about the usefulness of the system and preserved caution to adopt TCMCPSS.