| In 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded technology and its meaningful use with the execution of the Engagement Domain. This advanced, on a national level, the engagement of patients in the management of care through the use of health portals. However, patient engagement as a progression of meaningful use policy is new implementation, and as a consequence, little is known about how patients will accept and use health portals to engage in the management of care. This study strives to address this knowledge gap in examination of the predictors of health portal technology acceptance and use, as assessed by U.S. healthcare patients. Defining familiarity and use of technology under assessment are the CMS functions of engagement, while the motivation and acceptance model (MAM) and system theory provides the primary and secondary theoretical foundation for this study. The quantitative methodology (MAM framed survey of n = 352 self-elected participants) relies on SPSS 23.0 to conduct regression modeling in analysis of the MAM variables of patient perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived organizational support, and attitude toward to predict actual use. A finding for all four regression models in this study is the significant connection of perceived organizational support to the actual use of a patient health portal. In the reported 42% familiarity and use of all four meaningful use engagement functions that were conjointly utilized by participants, results of this study elucidate the need for ongoing, progressive measurements of technology use from the perspectives of patients. This research can provide insight for administrators of healthcare organizations in the adaptation or in the study of patient portal use to advance patient engagement in the management of care through technology and its meaningful use. |
