The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT examined the National Cancer Institute’s latest annual health information trends survey to identify racial and ethnic disparities in the provision, access, access and use the patient portal.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
Since 2003, the NCI Health Information National Trends Survey has collected nationally representative data on the knowledge and attitudes of the American public towards and use of health-related information. health in an effort to create more effective health communication strategies among different population groups.
Study co-author Chelsea Richwine, an economist at ONC’s Office of Technology, wrote in Thursday’s HealthITbuzz blog review that the overall growth in patient portal engagement is encouraging. rates, but previous studies have identified persistent disparities in patients’ access to and use of online medical records. findings.
Published in Journal of the American Medical Informatics AssociationThe ONC study by Richwine and her colleagues Christian Johnson and Vaishali Patel found that in 2019 and 2020, “blacks and Hispanics were less likely to report being offered and that access to their portal is significantly less.”
Blacks and Hispanics were not accommodated (5.2 percentage points less likely) and did not access the patient portal (7.9 percentage points less likely) nearly as often as White skin-man.
After accounting for other patient interaction factors, such as age, gender, education or health status, racial and ethnic disparities persist, says Richwine.
But when access is provided, the disparity largely diminishes.
According to JAMIA’s summary, “individuals who have provided a portal and are encouraged to use it by their vendors” are 21 percentage points more likely to access that portal .”
And, “blacks and Hispanics given and access to a portal are 12 percentage points more likely to use it to download or transmit information than whites.”
TREND TO BIGGER
The information blocking rules now in effect have broadened the variety and types of data healthcare organizations are subject to under the 21st Century Cures Act, and there are still many misconceptions about the requirements. and compliance.
While individuals expressed concerns about privacy, the majority of patients wanted their healthcare records available, and many said they wanted to download their health data to their mobile devices.
To reap the full benefits of policies that increase access to electronic health information, the industry must establish best practices for information sharing, alleviating rights concerns, said Richwine. patient privacy and security as well as addressing barriers related to access to use.
ON PROFILE
“Taken together, our findings point to the important role health care providers play in increasing access to EHI by providing access to EHI,” said Richwine in his blog. portals and encourage their use”.
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS.
