The Digital Divide in Adoption and Use of a Personal Health Record

被引:256
作者
Yamin, Cyrus K. [1 ,2 ]
Emani, Srinivas [1 ,2 ]
Williams, Deborah H. [1 ]
Lipsitz, Stuart R. [1 ]
Karson, Andrew S. [2 ,3 ]
Wald, Jonathan S. [1 ,4 ]
Bates, David W. [1 ,4 ]
机构
[1] Brigham & Womens Hosp, Div Gen Internal Med, Dept Med, Boston, MA 02120 USA
[2] Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Boston, MA USA
[3] Massachusetts Gen Hosp, Dept Med, Div Gen Internal Med, Boston, MA 02114 USA
[4] Partners HealthCare, Partners Informat Syst, Boston, MA USA
关键词
D O I
10.1001/archinternmed.2011.34
中图分类号
R5 [内科学];
学科分类号
1002 ; 100201 ;
摘要
Background: Personal health records (PHRs) offer the potential to improve the patient experience and the quality of patient care. However, the "digital divide," the population-level gap in Internet and computer access, may prevent certain groups from accessing the PHR. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a PHR within a northeastern health system. We compared adopters (ie, those activating a PHR account online) with nonadopters (ie, those who see a physician offering the PHR but do not activate an account). We further categorized adopters by intensity of PHR use, measured by number of log-ins and number of messages sent to physicians' practices. Results: As of September 30, 2009, among 75 056 patients, 43% had adopted the PHR since 2002. Blacks and Hispanics were less likely to adopt the PHR compared with whites (odds ratio [OR], 0.50; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.45-0.55; and 0.64; 0.57-0.73, respectively), and those with lower annual income were less likely to adopt the PHR than were those with higher income. Compared with nonadopters, adopters were more likely to have more than 2 comorbidities (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.17-1.30). Use of an aggressive marketing strategy for PHR enrollment increased adoption nearly 3-fold (OR, 2.92; 95% CI, 1.58-5.40). Intensity of use was best predicted by increasing number of comorbidities, followed by race/ethnicity (whites more than blacks and Hispanics) and insurance status. We found no association between income and log-in frequency or secure messages sent. Conclusions: Despite increasing Internet availability, racial/ethnic minority patients adopted a PHR less frequently than white patients, and patients with the lowest annual income adopted a PHR less often than those with higher incomes. Among adopters, however, income did not have an effect on PHR use.
引用
收藏
页码:568 / 574
页数:7
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