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US Adults' Willingness to Use a Blockchain-Based Health Information Management Application: A Structural Equation
John Robert Bautista1,2,3, Daniel Toshio Harrell4, Eric T Meyer5
1University of Missouri-Columbia, Sinclair School of Nursing, Missouri, United States, Columbia.
Applied Clinical Informatics
|July 30, 2026
Summary
US adults are willing to use MediLinker, a blockchain application for health information management. Factors like perceived benefits and risks influence their willingness to adopt this technology for personal health data.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Blockchain Technology
- Consumer Health Behavior
Background:
- MediLinker is a novel blockchain-based application designed for identity verification and personal health information management.
- Assessing health consumer perceptions is crucial for the successful clinical deployment of MediLinker.
- Existing theories (TRA, PC, PMT, RU) provide a framework for understanding technology adoption in healthcare.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine US adults' willingness to use MediLinker for health information management.
- To identify direct and indirect factors influencing willingness to use MediLinker.
- To explore perceptions of blockchain technology in the context of personal health data.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 913 US adults recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk.
- Descriptive statistics quantified willingness to use MediLinker for various health management tasks.
- Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyzed direct and indirect pathways influencing adoption willingness.
Main Results:
- A majority of respondents expressed willingness to use MediLinker for storing (76.7%), sharing (79.3%), and consenting to research (78.4%) health information.
- Positive attitude towards MediLinker directly correlated with willingness to use the application.
- Perceived risks and benefits, influenced by factors like liability, vulnerability, and severity, indirectly affected willingness through attitude.
Conclusions:
- US adults demonstrate a significant willingness to adopt blockchain-based solutions like MediLinker for managing their health information.
- The study's conceptual model elucidates key direct and indirect factors shaping consumer acceptance of health information management technologies.
- Findings offer valuable insights for deploying blockchain applications in healthcare and understanding consumer perspectives on digital health decision-making.
