Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
Doxy.me, LLC, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 17;17(22):8525. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17228525.
Understanding what motivates mental health providers to use telemedicine (i.e., telemental health) is critical for optimizing its uptake, especially during unprecedented times (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic). Drawing from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this report examined the characteristics of telemental health providers and how the acceptability of telemedicine features contributes to their intention to use the technology more often in practice. Telemental health providers ( = 177) completed an online survey between March and May 2019. Most providers (75%) spent less than 25% of their work-week using telemedicine, but 70% reported an intention to use telemedicine more in the future. The belief that telemedicine affords greater access to patients, work-life balance, flexibility in providing care, and the opportunity to be at the forefront of innovative care were significant predictors of intentions to use the technology more in the future. Other significant predictors included needing assistance to coordinate insurance reimbursements, manage a successful telemedicine practice, and integrate the telemedicine program with other health IT software. Findings have important implications for increasing the frequency of telemedicine use among telemental health providers. Future research and practice should leverage providers' positive beliefs about telemedicine acceptability and consider their needs to enhance its uptake.
了解促使心理健康提供者使用远程医疗（即远程心理健康）的原因对于优化远程医疗的使用至关重要，尤其是在前所未有的时期（例如 COVID-19 大流行期间）。本报告借鉴技术接受模型（TAM），考察了远程心理健康提供者的特征，以及远程医疗功能的可接受性如何有助于他们增加在实践中更频繁地使用该技术的意愿。远程心理健康提供者（n = 177）于 2019 年 3 月至 5 月之间完成了在线调查。大多数提供者（75%）每周用于远程医疗的工作时间不到 25%，但 70%的人表示未来打算更多地使用远程医疗。相信远程医疗可以使更多患者获得医疗服务、平衡工作和生活、提供护理方面的灵活性以及有机会处于创新护理的前沿，这是未来更频繁地使用该技术的重要预测因素。其他重要的预测因素包括需要帮助协调保险报销、管理成功的远程医疗实践以及将远程医疗计划与其他医疗信息技术软件集成。研究结果对增加远程心理健康提供者使用远程医疗的频率具有重要意义。未来的研究和实践应该利用提供者对远程医疗可接受性的积极信念，并考虑他们的需求以提高其采用率。
