Cluster Comput DOI 10.1007/s10586-014-0356-1 Factors influencing the acceptance of telemedicine for diabetes management Mi Jung Rho · Hun Sung Kim · Kyungyong Chung · In Young Choi Received: 19 November 2013 / Revised: 29 January 2014 / Accepted: 10 February 2014 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract Telemedicine service is effective intervention in blood glucose management and reducing the progression of diabetic complications. While telemedicine service for the enhanced management of diabetes has been known for its usefulness, there is little understanding regarding which factors should be considered when diabetic patients accept telemedicine. Thus, this study aimed to examine the fac- tors that influence the acceptance of telemedicine service for the enhanced management of diabetes mellitus based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Tech- nolog (UTAUT) model. Data were collected from a paper- based survey of 116 diabetic patients who were outpatients in six different university hospitals. This study used partial least squares regression to determine the causal relationship between the five variables. Demographic variables, such as age and gender, as moderating variables for behavioral inten- tion to use were analyzed. The results indicate that facilitat- ing factors have effects on the behavioral intention to use telemedicine service through the performance expectancy ( p < 0.05). In addition, facilitating factors have effects on the behavioral intention to use telemedicine service through M. J. Rho · I. Y. Choi (B ) Department of Medical Informatics, Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea Songeui Campus, 222, Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea e-mail: iychoi@catholic.ac.kr H. S. Kim Department of Endocrinology, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, 222, Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul 137-701, Korea K. Chung School of Computer Information Engineering, Sangji University, 83 Sangjidae-gil, Gangwon-do, Wonju-si 220-702, Korea the effort expectancy ( p < 0.05). This study also found that performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influ- ence have positive effects on behavioral intentions to use telemedicine service, as predicted using the UTAUT model ( p < 0.05). Finally, gender and age were found to be mod- erators between PE and behavioral intention to use telemedi- cine service as predicted using the UTAUT model. Our results showed that telemedicine service for diabetes mellitus man- agement should facilitate infrastructure methods such as con- tinuous assistance service and service guideline education. Therefore, the capacity of telemedicine service providers is more important for telemedicine success than the compe- tence of the individuals receiving telemedicine service care. In addition, performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence are influencing factors for the acceptance of telemedicine service for diabetes management. Accord- ingly, in order to raise service usage, telemedicine service providers’ variety support is important. Keywords Telemedicine · Diabetes mellitus · Facilitating conditions · UTAUT model · Behavioral intention to use 1 Introduction In 2008, the Korean Health and Society Research Center reported that chronic patients were suffering from an aver- age of 2.21 illnesses [24]. Of these Korean patients with chronic illnesses, the death from diabetes rates was higher compared with other member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Dia- betes is also gradually becoming a prevalent disease in South Korea [23]. Diabetic patients require periodic medical care from healthcare providers over long periods of time. In addi- tion, continuous lifestyle management such as regular diet, 123