Objective To analyze the factors influencing the willingness of lung cancer patients to receive “smart healthcare-nursing services” based on the technology acceptance model, and to provide reference for subsequent sustainable development and decision-making of smart healthcare services.

Methods From January 2024 to June 2025, 146 elderly patients with lung cancer who underwent surgery in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine were selected by convenience sampling method. A self-designed questionnaire was used to investigate their willingness to accept “smart healthcare-nursing services” and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results The acceptance willingness of elderly patients undergoing pulmonary surgery was at a moderately high level, with scores as follows: perceived usefulness (4.37±0.57), perceived ease of use (4.27±0.60), perceived security (4.21±0.65), attitude toward use (4.31±0.56), intention to use (4.38±0.53), and actual use behavior (4.20±0.52), respectively. Perceived usefulness significantly influenced both patients’ attitude toward use and intention to use (both P ＜ 0.05), with the path coefficients of 0.182 and 0.185, respectively. Similarly, perceived ease of use and perceived security emerged as significant determinants of patients’ attitude toward use (both P ＜ 0.05), exhibiting the path coefficients of 0.158 and 0.226, respectively.

Conclusions Service providers can fully leverage “health data” to offer patients precise and continuous healthcare-elderly care services, thereby enhancing their perceived usefulness. Additionally, by strengthening the management of the entire disease process for patients, service providers can improve safety and boost the willingness to accept "smart healthcare-nursing services".