The Cashless Clinic: Acceptability and Benefits of Mobile Money in Kenya's Health Sector.

Abstract

Mobile payment acceptance in healthcare is a relatively new area of research, under explored when compared to related areas of research such as mobile technology for health information and communication. The objectives of this study were to find out the effects of Safaricom's Lipa na M-PESA (LNM) use on clinic administrative costs and revenue, and to study the uptake and acceptability of LNM by patients. The study researched mobile payment acceptability by turning a clinic to be completely cashless for a six-week period. Baseline data was collected to gauge the effects of mobile payment on administrative costs and revenue. Surveys and in-depth interviews were carried out to assess the acceptability of mobile payment among staff and patients. Findings from this experiment demonstrate that mobile technology is acceptable when it is perceived as useful and more convenient to use.