Effect of barrier related factors on perceived usefulness and ease of use of social media applications in the Australian healthcare sector

Abstract

Despite the growing popularity of social media internationally, an extant review of the literature revealed a low rate of social media usage among healthcare professionals. While cynicism amongst healthcare professionals might be a reason, there might be other factors that could explain healthcare professionals’ reluctance to use social media in their practices. This research investigated potential barriers that affected healthcare professionals’ behavioural intention to use social media. A cross-sectional survey was randomly administered to 824 healthcare professionals working in Australian healthcare organisations. At the end of data collection, 219 usable responses were collected. Analysis of data via structural equation model (SEM) found that perceived trust, privacy threats, professional boundary, facilitating conditions and self-efficacy significantly influence the notion of perceived usefulness and ease of use. In addition, information quality directly influences health professionals’ perceived ease of utilising social media technology. The result also indicated that gender moderates the relationship between barrier-related factors and perceived usefulness and ease of use. This study’s findings have important implications for healthcare providers and policymakers regarding medical professionals’ perceptions of the potential challenges in using social media as well as developing strategies to counter misinformation against the backdrop of COVID-19.