Paper Type

Complete Research Paper

Description

The cloud computing paradigm promises to significantly improve the transfer of crucial medical records during medical service delivery. However, since cloud computing technology is still known for unsolved security and privacy challenges, severe concerns could prevent patients and medical workers from accepting such an application scenario. Owing to the lack of similar studies, we investigate what determines an individual´s information privacy concerns on cloud-based transmission of medical records and whether perceived benefits influnce the behavioral intention of individuals to permit medical workers to transfer their medical records via cloud-based services. Based on different established theories, we develop and empirically test a corresponding research model by a survey with more than 260 full responses. \ \ Our results show the perceived benefits of this health cloud scenario override the impact of information privacy concerns even in the privacy-sensitive German-speaking area and immediately after the NSA scandal. Somewhat surprisingly, we also find that in this scenario knowledge about information privacy has no significant effect on information privacy concerns although some relations have been observed in previous empirical studies. Finally, patient information privacy concerns can be mitigated by establishing trust in cloud providers in healthcare as well as in privacy-preserving technological and regulatory mechanisms.

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ACCEPTANCE OF HEALTH CLOUDS - A PRIVACY CALCULUS PERSPECTIVE

The cloud computing paradigm promises to significantly improve the transfer of crucial medical records during medical service delivery. However, since cloud computing technology is still known for unsolved security and privacy challenges, severe concerns could prevent patients and medical workers from accepting such an application scenario. Owing to the lack of similar studies, we investigate what determines an individual´s information privacy concerns on cloud-based transmission of medical records and whether perceived benefits influnce the behavioral intention of individuals to permit medical workers to transfer their medical records via cloud-based services. Based on different established theories, we develop and empirically test a corresponding research model by a survey with more than 260 full responses. \ \ Our results show the perceived benefits of this health cloud scenario override the impact of information privacy concerns even in the privacy-sensitive German-speaking area and immediately after the NSA scandal. Somewhat surprisingly, we also find that in this scenario knowledge about information privacy has no significant effect on information privacy concerns although some relations have been observed in previous empirical studies. Finally, patient information privacy concerns can be mitigated by establishing trust in cloud providers in healthcare as well as in privacy-preserving technological and regulatory mechanisms.