Factors affecting the adoption of e-health system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: The Saudi government is trying to implement the e-health system throughout Saudi Arabia to promote accessible health services for its population. However, adoption of the e-health system has not been effective. Thus the objective of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of e-health in this country. METHODS: To carry out this research, a questionnaire was designed to obtain information on how people in Saudi Arabia use the e-health system and the problems they face when using this technology. The questionnaire was initially viewed by 438 people and 130 of them answered the survey. RESULTS: The results of this research on the adoption of the e-health system in Saudi Arabia indicated that the main factors preventing the implementation of this system were mainly related to the lack of a relationship between doctors and patients, fears about the possibility of violating data privacy and a lack of government regulations. In addition, there are certain demographic factors such as age, gender, residence, income, education and culture that create obstacles in the adoption of the e-health system. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that professionals should contribute to modifying the e-health system and adding more government regulatory bodies to increase adoption. This will encourage end-users to trust the system. By modifying existing strategies, the results of this study can contribute to the successful implementation of the e-health system in Saudi Arabia.