Dynamics of Health Technology Diffusion in Integrated Care System (DHTDICS): A Development and Validation Study
Abstract Background Limited diffusion and utilization of health technology has greatly halted the improvement of resource integration and healthcare outcomes. However, the dynamic mechanism of health technology diffusion in the context of integrated care system (ICS) remained largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the scale on Dynamics of Health Technology Diffusion in Integrated Care System (DHTDICS) for providing instruments to investigate the health technology diffusion in ICS.Methods The scale was initially designed on the basis of the proposed model developed from previous research. And it was validated in a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess domains in the questionnaire, and analyzed factorials, internal consistency and validity of the questionnaire. Results Reliability analysis revealed excellent internal consistency, as the value of Cronbach’s alpha all greater than 0.80 for four of the domains in this study. An acceptable validity was confirmed through tests of construct validity, convergent validity and discriminant validity. With respect to the potential domains and dimensions that DHTDICS contributes, the results highlight the existence of 4 domains: personal beliefs, technical drivers, organizational readiness and external environment.Conclusions The findings of this study will be capable to serve as a valid instrument to measure health technology diffusion, and be also helpful in developing future intervention strategies to promote the health technology diffusion in ICS.