Title: The perception of telemedicine in Thailand: the attitude change during COVID-19 pandemic

Authors: Sumate Permwonguswa

Addresses: Department of Digital Business Management, Martin de Tours School of Management and Economics, Assumption University, 88 Moo 8 Bang Na-Trad Km. 26, Bang Sao Thong, Samut Prakan 10570, Thailand

Abstract: Prior to 2019, telemedicine technology was not widely adopted in Thailand due to the infrastructure and the attitude of both healthcare providers and patients in Thailand. There was little awareness of the technology among Thai people. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has been introduced to Thai people in many public and private hospitals to help reduce disease transmission. This initiative has also increased the awareness of telemedicine in Thai society. Therefore, this paper investigates the attitude change towards telemedicine in Thailand. The findings suggest that self-efficacy, trust, and intention to use telemedicine app increased significantly, and that risk perception has started to play a role after the pandemic. Several between-group comparisons were also conducted. The results and conclusions as well as the business implications are discussed.

Keywords: telemedicine; telemedicine app; mobile app; telehealth; attitude change; COVID-19; pandemic; self-efficacy; trust; perceived risk; intention to use; Thailand.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2024.142291

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2024 Vol.47 No.2, pp.272 - 294

Received: 19 Dec 2020
Accepted: 11 May 2021
Published online: 17 Oct 2024 *

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