Can health IT reduce health disparities? New ONC report explores opportunities

Inequality related to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status is one of our nation’s most vexing problems, and it affects health status, access to health care, and health care quality.

Unfortunately, health disparities in access to quality care are common. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) 2011 National Healthcare Disparities Report indicates that:

• Blacks received worse care than Whites for 41% of quality measures and Hispanics received worse care than non-Hispanic Whites for 39% of measures
• Uninsured individuals aged 64 and under were far less likely to have a usual source of primary care than individuals with insurance 
• Low-income individuals received worse care than high-income people for almost half of the quality measures

New ONC Report: Understanding the Impact of Health IT in Underserved Communities and those with Health Disparities. 

What our research at ONC has found, however, is that health information technology has the potential to alleviate these inequalities.

ONC recently issued a report that looks at how communities and providers are using health IT to address the specific needs of populations experiencing disparities in access, quality of care, and health outcomes. The report was based on previous work: click here to read more.