The Effects of Culture of Adoption of Telemedicine in Medically Underserved Communities

Abstract

Within the information systems discipline, three streams have emerged that address the issue of information technology adoption, diffusion and use. The first examines the factors influencing an individual's decision to accept a new technology. The second stream deals with the impact of culture on the development and use of information technology; and the third stream is directed toward the transfer of information technology from one country or context into another. While these three streams have attempted to theorize and empirically explain the factors influencing information technology adoption within a new environment, they have largely been used separately and tested within the context of advanced economies. In this paper we attempt to integrate all three in examining the introduction of telemedicine technology in medically underserved communities. The results suggest that the interaction effects of the factors derived from all theories provide a better explanation of technology introduction in medically underserved communities.