Abstract
IntroductionDisparities in the quality of health care and treatment among racial or ethnic groups can result from unequal access to medical care, disparate treatments for similar severities of symptoms, and wide divergence in general health status among individuals. Such disparities may be eliminated through better use of health information technology (IT). Investment in health IT could foster better coordinated care, improve guideline compliance, and reduce the likelihood of redundant testing, thereby encouraging more equitable treatment for underprivileged populations. However, there is little research exploring the impact of health IT investment on disparities of process of care.MethodologyThis study examines the impact of health IT investment on waiting times – from admission to the date of first principle procedure – among different racial and ethnic groups, using patient and hospital data for the state of California collected from 2001 to 2007. The final sample includes 14,056,930 patients admitted with medical diseases to 316 unique, acute-care hospitals over a seven-year period. The linear random intercept and slope model was employed to examine the impacts of health IT investment on waiting time, while controlling for patient, disease, and hospital characteristics.ResultsGreater health IT investment was associated with shorter waiting times, and the reduction in waiting times was greater for non-White than for White patients. This indicates that minority populations could benefit from health IT investment with regard to process of care.ConclusionInvestments in health IT may reduce disparities in process of care.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12939-015-0161-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Disparities in the quality of health care and treatment among racial or ethnic groups can result from unequal access to medical care, disparate treatments for similar severities of symptoms, and wide divergence in general health status among individuals
This indicates that minority populations could benefit from health information technology (IT) investment with regard to process of care
Tucker and Miller [12] investigated the impact of electronic medical records (EMRs) on infant and neonatal mortality rates among both White and African American babies, concluding that EMR adoption was significantly associated with a reduction in infant mortality rate, and that the benefits were greater for African Americans [12]
Summary
Disparities in the quality of health care and treatment among racial or ethnic groups can result from unequal access to medical care, disparate treatments for similar severities of symptoms, and wide divergence in general health status among individuals. Such disparities may be eliminated through better use of health information technology (IT). Nationwide programs aiming to promote health and prevent disease, such as Healthy People and Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010), focus on the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in health care and treatment. To eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health, it is critical to understand the root of the problem
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