What drives telehealth use? Evidence from a two-wave panel study

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Telehealth adoption is growing, but understanding long-term user engagement is crucial.
• Factors influencing continued use of telehealth platforms require further investigation, especially in emerging markets like Vietnam.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate key factors influencing users' intention to continue using telehealth platforms in Vietnam.
• To examine the temporal relationships among hedonic value, utilitarian value, perceived privacy, perceived security, doctor-patient communication quality (DPCQ), trust, and continuance intention.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal two-wave survey design with data collected from telehealth users at two time points (N=427 at Time 1, N=392 at Time 2).
• Cross-Lagged Panel Model (CLPM) applied to analyze causal and directional relationships among study constructs over time.

Main Results:

• Hedonic value, utilitarian value, perceived privacy, perceived security, and DPCQ at Time 1 significantly predicted user trust at Time 2.
• Trust at Time 2 significantly influenced users' continuance intention toward telehealth services.
• Temporal precedence of trust was confirmed, highlighting the role of communication quality.

Conclusions:

• User trust is a critical mediator in the relationship between various value perceptions, quality factors, and telehealth continuance intention.
• High-quality doctor-patient communication is vital for fostering long-term user engagement with telehealth platforms.
• Findings offer practical insights for telehealth developers and providers to enhance user trust and sustain engagement.