The PMA-Scale for measuring physicians' motivation for the adoption of medical devices

Studies have often stated that determinants on individual level are important drivers of the adoption of medical devices. However, empirical evidence for this claim is scarce. On individual level, physicians’ motivation for adoption is a latent construct that was often reported to be important in the context of adoption decisions but a clear notion of its dimensions and corresponding instruments for measurement are not available. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop and subsequently validate an instrument to measure physicians’ motivation for the adoption of medical devices.

Development and validation of the instrument were based on a literature search, internal expert meetings, a pilot study with physicians and a three-stage online-survey. Overall, 464 questionnaires were completed by inpatient physicians of the NHS England. The data collected in the online-survey was analysed using explorative factor-analyses and the instrument was revised according to the results. The explorative factor-analyses revealed that physicians’ motivation for the adoption of medical devices can be measured the developed PMA-scale which consists of six distinct dimensions, i.e., the functional, patient benefit, power, conformity, hedonic, and cognitive dimension. The analysis revealed a uniform structure of factor loadings without substantial co-loadings, which allows a clear interpretation of the latent constructs. Reliability as well as validity of our instrument were confirmed on the basis of the data collected in the survey.

This is the first reliable and valid instrument to measure physicians’ motivation for adoption of medical devices. A systematic understanding of the motivation of physicians to adopt medical devices is especially important in budget-impact and cost-effectiveness analysis for health policy makers as well as health economic research. Future adoption studies aiming to address the individual level should include this validated instrument to get more information about the role of physicians’ motivation in the adoption context.