Will Digital Technology Reduce Gap in Health Between Rich and Poor?

Although the federal government is directing billions of dollars in economic stimulus money to get electronic health record technology into hospitals and clinics nationwide, some doctors and small clinics indicate they’re unlikely to meet the Obama administration’s goal of going digital in the next five years. That possibility is raising concern among health care specialists both inside and outside the federal government, who worry that the benefit of the technology may disproportionately fall to top health care facilities, potentially increasing the so-called digital divide — and as a result, health disparities between rich and poor and between different races.

Electronic medical record systems not only give doctors digital access to a patient’s medical history but can allow them to check what medications and treatment best fit the patient. Many people believe that electronic medical records will help improve the quality of health care by giving doctors more detailed data on their patients wherever they seek care, and by allowing those physicians to better analyze data to understand what treatments work. “On the one hand the potential for IT [information technology] helping is enormous,” said Ruth Perot, head of the National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved, a nonprofit public-private partnership focusing on using this technology to reduce health disparities. “The flip side is, if it’s available in communities that are doing better than others, and communities of color aren't getting access, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that gaps are going to increase.” The biggest problem: cost.