CONNECTING THROUGH CREDIBILITY: HEALTH CARE WORKERS' TRUST TOWARDS HEALTH CARE APPS

Abstract

Mobile health (mHealth) applications are making a significant impact on the way health care is  delivered,  communicated and managed. The healthcare industry is becoming increasingly dependent on healthcare applications to support clinical decision making, patient monitoring, electronic documentation, telemedicine and professional communication. But there are some psychological and technological conditions that are important to the success of the implementation and continued use of healthcare applications. Within these factors, perceived trust, perceived attachment, and perceived credibility are important factors that affect the acceptance and continued use of healthcare applications by healthcare workers. This article investigates the correlation between perceived trust, perceived attachment and perceived credibility relationship between HWs and the healthcare applications. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), trust theory, and attachment theory, the paper examines what healthcare professionals consider "reliable" and "secure" apps, as well as their perceptions of their usefulness and emotional attachment to the apps. The review underscores how important app credibility is in cultivating trust and attachment and its implications in usage intentions and organizational outcomes. The results indicate that transparency, security, ease of use, and evidence-based content   are important key factors to build trust and credibility with healthcare organizations and app developers. Healthcare workers' acceptance of digital health technologies could be strengthened by these factors, which could lead to better healthcare delivery.