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Dissertation Information for Mary J. Moore

NAME:
- Mary J. Moore

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Texas, Austin (USA) (1996)

ADVISORS:
- Julie Hallmark Bichteler

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- [Indecipherable1]
- Ana D. Cleveland
- Brooke E. Sheldon
- E. Glynn Harmon

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Characteristics of earlier adopters of telemedicine

Abstract: Past field experiments and trials have shown the potential of telemedicine to improve health care delivery, yet the expense of the technology has precluded widespread adoption. Now, with emerging technologies, lowered costs, and the development of information superhighways, telemedicine may finally reach its potential, providing opportunities for both cost reduction and improved patient outcomes. Barriers to implementation remain, however. Interviews with directors of telemedicine services revealed that, in their opinion, human factors such as resistance to change were the greatest barrier to full scale deployment of telemedicine services.

The theoretical foundation for this study was Everett Rogers' generalizations regarding the sociodemographic, psychological, and communications characteristics of earlier adopters of innovations. This study used the NEO-PI-R, the Opinion Leadership Scale, and a detailed questionnaire to examine the generalizations with a population of 38 rural, general practitioners who received telemedicine consultations. Most of the results confirmed Rogers' generalizations. In addition, the study suggests that earlier adopters of telemedicine may be more emotionally mature and better able to cope with stressful situations than the population as a whole.

This research also examined relationships of numerous independent variables with (1) early use of telemedicine services after installation, (2) quantity of utilization, and (3) opinion leadership. Earlier adoption among the sample population was most positively correlated with positive emotions, assertiveness, and lower level of use of resources for education and information, perhaps because these resources were less readily available. A higher degree of utilization was correlated with aggressive lifelong learning. According to self-reports on the measures used, these heavy users describe themselves as difficult or disagreeable, skeptical, and competitive. Users reported a lower opinion of their competence, perhaps because of their professional isolation. Opinion leadership correlated with avoidance of interpersonal conflict, ability to withstand stress, tendency toward careful deliberation, and with larger amounts of contact with colleagues.

MPACT Scores for Mary J. Moore

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-06-30 20:08:52

Advisors and Advisees Graph