User acceptance of a video-based contactless medical patient terminal for infection screening and registration at an out-patient clinic in Berlin, 2023 (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Acute respiratory infections continue pose a transmission risk in outpatient care, making early identification and separation of potentially infectious patients quintessential. Digital, contactless screening tools may aid with the separation of potentially infectious patients, however effectiveness can depend on users acceptance and engagement. OBJECTIVE To assess user acceptance of patients using a video-based digital Screening and Registration Terminal (SRT) to improve infection prevention at an outpatient clinic in Berlin, Germany. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients with acute care needs using the SRT between October 4 to November 22, 2023. We describe summarized user acceptance factors including ease of use, intention to use, perceived usefulness, attitude, privacy, audio-visual communication, and technical sensors overall and by sex, age, education. RESULTS Of the 56 participants, 55% (29/56) were 20-39 years old, and 63% (35/56) had received higher education. Among respondents with available answers 55% (30/55) reported that the SRT was easy to use and 40% (22/55) found it useful. Intention to use was expressed by 56% (31/55) of respondents and 57% (31/54) reported a positive attitude towards technology. Privacy concerns were expressed by 24% (13/54) of participants, while 24% (13/54) did not indicate any and 7% (4/54) reported difficulties with audio-visual communication. CONCLUSIONS More than half of the patients using the SRT positively reported on most user acceptance factors. This indicates that the SRT was generally well accepted, particularly with regard to ease of use and perceived usefulness. Privacy concerns and audio-visual communication issues were reported which underlines the importance of integrating user acceptance research when introducing new tools to address barriers to user acceptance early on.