This document explores the adoption and diffusion of telehealth technologies in substance abuse treatment, highlighting the complexities of individual acceptance and integration of new technologies. Through a web-based survey of 171 treatment professionals, factors influencing both the propensity to adopt technology and barriers to its implementation were identified, including optimism and proficiency as positive factors, and dependence and vulnerability as inhibiting factors. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding cognitive, emotional, and contextual concerns in facilitating technology adoption in behavioral health.

1. Telehealth Technologies: Expanding Access and Enhancing Treatment and Recovery Services
Nancy A. Roget, MS, MFT, LADC & Joyce A. Hartje, PhD
National Frontier & Rural Addiction Technology Transfer Center (NFAR ATTC) | University of Nevada, Reno
OBJECTIVES:
• Recognize the basic tenets of diffusion of innovation theory and technology adoption research
• Cite factors related to technology adoption and the provision of substance abuse treatment services
PURPOSE:
Just because an organization integrates new technology to deliver services, there is no guarantee that staff will embrace using it.
Research has examined the complexity of individuals’ relationships with technological innovation, identifying several paradoxes experienced
when dealing with new technologies.1, 3
Several theories have been used to examine:
• choices individuals make to accept/reject a particular innovation and extent to which that innovation is integrated into the appropriate context
(adoption);
• how an innovation spreads through a population (diffusion); and
• beliefs and attitudes formed over time that may influence decisions about the innovations adopted/rejected
This study extends previous research on understanding of why one individual chooses to adopt a technology while another resists.
METHODS:
• Web-based survey administered to substance abuse treatment professionals (n=171)
• Examined propensity to adopt technology on 4 dimensions:
Contributing Factors
* Optimism – technology makes life easier
* Proficiency – learning to use technology is quick and easy
Inhibiting Factors
* Dependence – overly reliant on technology
* Vulnerability – increased chance of being targeted
CONCLUSIONS:
• Early Adopters in the behavioral health workforce who use telehealth technologies may increase promotion, adoption, & implementation of its use.
• Along with recognizing where individuals are on the adoption/dissemination continuum, it is important to understand that successfully facilitating
technology adoption needs to address cognitive, emotional, and contextual concerns.
• Attitude about technology influences propensity to adopt
• Facilitating technology implementation projects should be informed by knowledge of technology adoption research
• Technology adoption is a complex, developmental process through which individuals construct unique (but malleable) perceptions of technology that
influence the adoption process.
• Although results from the current study were explained on only two of those factors (Proficiency and Dependence), they do suggest positive
correlations between individuals’ attitudes and propensity to deliver substance abuse treatment services using technology-based interventions.
RESULTS: Reasons for implementing telehealth technologies
• Facilitate easier access to services for individuals living in remote areas
• Ability to provide services to more individuals
* wait time to schedule appointments was too long
* specialty services not available (e.g., psychiatric care for adolescents)
Characteristics of Early Adopters in the Context of the Behavioral
Health Workforce
• Believe most people in the organization think using telehealth
technologies to deliver treatment and recovery services is a good thing
• Consider services delivered using telehealth technologies to be as
effective as face-to-face
What helps innovations spread?
• Relative advantage
• Compatibility
• Simplicity and ease of use
• ‘Triability’
• Observable results
Formulating a Belief about Technology
• How beneficial will this new technology be once I start using it?
• How difficult will it be for me to learn to use it properly?
2.5%
Innovators
13.5%
Early
Adopters
34%
Early Majority
34%
Late Majority
16%
Laggards
E
arlyM
arkets
Mainstream Market
LateM
ar
ket
Techies:
‘Try it.’
Visionaries:
‘Get ahead!’
Pragmatists:
‘Stick with the herd!’
Skeptics:
‘No way!’
Conservatives:
‘Hold on!”
Research posits that the population can be broken down into five different
segments based on their propensity to adopt a specific innovation.
ROGERS’ ADOPTION OF INNOVATION CURVE
The diffusion curve
represents how many
individuals are using an
innovation.
REFERENCES:
1
Ratchford, M. & Barnhart, M. (2012). Development and validation of the technology adoption propensity (TAP) index. Journal of Business Research, 65, 1209-1215.
2
Straub, E.T. (2009). Understanding technology adoption: Theory and future directions for informal learning. Review of Educational Research, 79 (2), 625-649.
3
Rogers, E.M. (1995). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed). New York: Free Press.