Determinants of the managerial staff’s disposition towards e-payment platforms in public tertiary hospitals in Enugu, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Many Nigerians pay out-of-pocket for their health care, and some hospitals have started utilising e-payment systems to increase transactional efficiency. The study investigated the type and usage of e-payment platforms in public hospitals and the factors that may influence the managerial staff’s disposition towards using the e-payment system. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 300 managerial staff within the four public tertiary hospitals in Enugu, Nigeria, through proportionate quota sampling. The survey obtained participants’ demographic characteristics, types of e-payment platforms, managerial staff’s technophobia, perception of credibility, and disposition towards e-payment. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, and hierarchical linear regression. RESULTS: The majority of the respondents (n = 278, 92.7% completion rate) aged 43.4 ± 7.6 years were females (59.0%) with a bachelor’s degree (54.7%). Their disposition (80.0%±17.9%), perceptions of the usefulness (85.7 ± 13.9%), and user-friendliness (80.5 ± 18.1%) of e-payment in the hospital were positive, credibility (72.6 ± 20.1%) and technophobia (68.0 ± 20.7%) were moderate. There was a negative correlation between technophobia and disposition toward the use of e-payment (ρ = -0.50, P < 0.001). Significant multivariate predictors of managerial disposition towards e-payment were; being a woman (β = 0.12, P = 0.033), married (β = 0.18, P = 0.003), positive perception of usefulness (β = 0.14, P = 0.025), and credibility (β = 0.15, P = 0.032). CONCLUSION: Most participants had a positive disposition towards e-payment in public hospitals. However, managers with technophobia, a negative perception of e-payment usefulness, and credibility had a lesser disposition to its use. To ensure the universal implementation of e-payment in Nigerian hospitals, the service providers should make the e-payment platforms more secure and user-friendly to health services consumers and providers.