Georgia providers harnessing health IT to reduce disparities

Healthcare providers in Georgia are leveraging interoperability and portability of health information to improve population health outcomes and reduce historical disparities in care.

A recent study showed that Hispanic and black patients who receive their care from physicians utilizing EHRs with clinical decision support had improved blood pressure control and no disparity in outcomes compared to whites than those who received care at practices without an EHR, according to a Health IT Buzz blog post written by Dominick Mack, MD, MBA, executive medical director of the Georgia Health Information Technology Extension Center (GA-HITEC) and Ayanna V. Buckner, MD, MPH, associate professor in the department of community health and preventative medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

“However, the diffusion of healthcare innovations to underserved communities has historically lagged behind white communities,” the authors wrote, noting that uninsured black and Latino patients were less likely to have primary care physicians with EHRs compared with privately insured patients, and less likely to have access to patient portals.

Specifically, GA-HITEC, part of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s regional extension center program, is working to better coordinate care for patients with chronic diseases,

The authors also cited the Ready Georgia app, which is helping state residents better prepare, plan and stay informed during emergencies.

Jeffery White, MD, a rural pediatrician in northwest Georgia, is using an EHR to improve the processes and patient experience of his own clinic. With his EHR, he can quickly notify his patients about medication recalls, issue reminders about annual vaccines and confirm accuracy of medical records.

White attributes improvements in the quality of patient care in his clinic to the objectives of the Meaningful Use program and his adoption of the patient-centered medical home practice model, according to the blog.

“It is important that national health IT initiatives are effective in assuring that certified EHR and other innovative health IT tools are disseminated fairly to primary care providers who treat underserved populations for the improvement of patient engagement and clinical outcomes to help eliminate health disparities,” the authors wrote.