A recent study published in Health Affairs found that hospitals that serve a higher proportion of low-income patients are less likely to have electronic health record systems in place.
Experts note that many safety-net hospitals cite high implementation costs as a major obstacle to EHR adoption.
In an iHealthBeat Special Report by Deirdre Kennedy, experts discussed the growing gaps in health IT adoption.
The Special Report includes comments from:
- Ashish Jha, associate professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health;
- John Lumpkin, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation;
- Anthony Puorro, CEO of Roseland Hospital in Chicago; and
- Melanie Thomas, vice president and CIO of Roseland Hospital.
Experts suggest that the federal government could address the digital divide by offering grants or loans to help safety-net health care providers purchase EHR systems (Kennedy, iHealthBeat, 11/6).
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