Paving the way for increased e-health record use: elaborating intentions of Gen-Z

Health Syst (Basingstoke). 2022 Oct 3;12(3):281-298. doi: 10.1080/20476965.2022.2129471. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

This paper presents the determinants of personal e-health records adoption by the Gen-Z population and reveals barriers to use. Gen-Z members are one of the most prominent users of digital health services that have an influence on older generations' technology adoption but have often been overlooked in scholarly research. A survey of 1,000 Gen-Z university students based on modified UTAUT was used to address this research gap. The analysis revealed the vital role of social influence in paving the way for higher adoption among Gen-Z. Moreover, significant influences of performance expectancy, facilitating conditions, and e-health literacy on behavioural intentions were detected. Effort expectancy was found to be insignificant in impacting Gen-Z's intentions to adopt electronic health record systems. Moreover, privacy concerns acted as a barrier to adoption, yet the offsetting effect of users' trust in health systems was shown to be instrumental in overcoming such privacy-related barriers.

Keywords: Gen-Z; e-health; electronic health; health records; personal health records; preventive medicine.