Health care professionals intention to use digital health data hub working in East Gojjam Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia: Technology acceptance modeling.

BACKGROUND

Digital health data hubs contribute significantly to finding the right solutions to health problems, which forms the basis for achieving sustainable development goals. However, in Ethiopia, the health system has been coming to one central hub for all data, there is limited evidence of health professionals' intentions to use these systems. Understanding their intentions is crucial, as this can significantly improve the advancement of digital health in healthcare organizations. This study assessed health professionals' intention to use digital health data hubs in hospitals in East Gojjam, northwest Ethiopia, in 2024.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study design was used to conduct the study. Eleven hospitals were included in the study area. Using an a priori structural equation modeling sample size calculator, the total sample size was 616. Stratified proportional allocation sampling was performed. The study participants were selected using a systematic sample. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for the analysis. Because it is a more powerful multivariate technique for testing and evaluating multivariate causal relationships. The assumptions of SEM-like normality, average variance extracted (AVE), composite reliability (CR), Cronbach's alpha, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and model specifications were checked using Amos and Stata version 16.

RESULTS

This study was conducted with a sample size of 616 healthcare professionals; 591 (95.94%) responded to the survey. The results showed that 57.69% (n = 341) of the healthcare professionals intended to use the digital health data hub. Further analysis showed that perceived usefulness (PU: β = 0.576, p = 0.000), perceived trust (PT: β = 0.116, p = 0.022), and attitude (β = 0.143, p = 0.043) significantly and positively influenced health professionals' intention to use digital health data hubs.

CONCLUSION

Overall, the findings showed that 42.31% of health professionals have low intention to use digital health data hubs. These shall be needed to improve their intentions to use digital health data hubs through targeted interventions. Therefore, focusing on critical factors, such as perceived usefulness, trust, and attitude are crucial factors to reinforce their intention to use the system. Additionally, overcoming implementation challenges and building trust is critical to the successful integration and use of digital health data hubs.