NIMHD asserts EHRs may help reduce health disparities

Writing in this month’s issue of Medical Care, Eliseo Pérez-Stable, MD, director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and his colleagues propose ways to leverage technology to promote health equity. “Health IT tools such as EHRs, patient portals, patient-monitored health behaviors and clinical decision support (CDS) systems may yield population health benefits for underserved populations by enhancing patient engagement, improving implementation of clinical guidelines, promoting patient safety and reducing adverse outcomes,” they write. The article is part of a June supplement that includes 12 original research articles. One features an EHR-based screening tool that gathers information on patients’ unmet needs in order to prompt providers to address non-medical concerns during visits. (Health Data Management story, 6/3/19)