Evaluating the acceptance of telepractice among speech therapists in Switzerland utilizing modified TAM

Abstract

Telemedicine applications allow healthcare professionals to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients at a distance using telecommunication technology. Numerous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of telemedicine for speech therapy, mostly known a stelepractice or teletherapy, but its successful implementation and acceptance have still barriers to overcome. In the USA, Canada, or Australia, telepractice has been studied and widely used. On the contrary, speech therapists in Switzerland have had their first experiences with telepractice during the COVID-19 Lockdown. When introducing telemedicine to clinical practice, the most critical success factor is the acceptance by the physicians. The main goal of this study is to shed light on the experiences of swiss speechtherapists with tele practice via videoconferencing and identify critical factors that would influence their future acceptance of this model of service delivery....