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. 2025 Jun 2:11:20552076251347850.
doi: 10.1177/20552076251347850. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.

Exploring primary care doctors' perceptions and experiences in adopting mHealth with patients: A qualitative study

Indra Gayatri Valliyappan  1 , Yew Kong Lee  1 , Chirk Jenn Ng  1   2   3 , Hooi Min Lim  1
Affiliations

Exploring primary care doctors' perceptions and experiences in adopting mHealth with patients: A qualitative study

Indra Gayatri Valliyappan et al. Digit Health. .

Abstract

Objective: While there is a rise in mobile health (mHealth) usage and evidence of improved patient care, its widespread acceptance and adoption are limited. User engagement is a major determinant in successful implementation of mHealth. However, there is limited understanding of doctors' challenges in adopting mHealth in their clinical practice. This study explored the perception and experiences of primary care doctors (PCDs) in adopting mHealth with their patients.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 20 primary care doctors (4 family medicine specialists, 15 family medicine trainees, and 1 medical officer) in Malaysia. PCDs were purposively sampled based on gender, ethnicity, age groups, professional position and years of experience. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The qualitative analysis was performed using a thematic analysis.

Results: Five themes emerged from this study: (1) perceived benefits of adopting mHealth with patients, (2) doctors' approaches to facilitating mHealth use and adoption, (3) identifying credible mHealth resources, (4) selecting patients to adopt mHealth, (5) privacy concerns when delivering mHealth.

Conclusion: Despite positive perception of mHealth use in improving patient care, PCDs face significant challenges in adopting mHealth with patients. To address these barriers, targeted interventions should be developed to enhance PCDs' knowledge, skills, and confidence in integrating mHealth in their clinical practice. We need to find ways to provide support for PCDs in mHealth adoption, particularly in resource-limited settings.

Keywords: adoption; doctors; mHealth; primary care; qualitative.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flowchart for recruitment. FMS, family medicine specialist; SMO, service medical officer; CTs, clinical trainees.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Range of approaches and levels of effort in adopting mHealth with patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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