Die Akzeptanz der elektronischen Gesundheitskarte in Deutschland

Against the background of the increasing importance of eHealth, this contribution concentrates on the issue of acceptance regarding the introduction of the electronic health card (English for elektronische Gesundheitskarte, hereinafter referred to as eHC) on the part of the service providing health institutions. After presenting the general issue, the relevance of the subject is described and the eHC is defined. Then the eHC is classified in terms of terminology and afterwards the current state of research of investigations regarding acceptance in the field of eHC is presented and evaluated. Based on both the technology acceptance model and the relevant literature, the important factors influencing the attitude towards and the eventual use of the eHC are conceptualized and integrated in an investigation model. The empirical investigation took place throughout Germany within the scope of an online survey of the health care providers. All in all, 502 questionnaires were reflected in the evaluation of the willingness of acceptance. The empirical results show that regarding the perceived usefulness the performance of the system and a well balanced cost-/benefit-ratio lead to an increasing acceptance of the eHC. Being integrated in the decision process, however, is not relevant for the German physicians. Within the context of the perceived ease of use the compatibility of the system is much less relevant than the controllability or the general usability.