Health IT and Disparities, Relevant Federal Initiatives

There is a growing recognition that greater research and investment in health IT may be an important tool in addressing health disparities. The use of computer technologies in health care has been associated with increased patient safety and improved personal decision-making, leading to improved quality and more efficient delivery of care.

For underserved populations, increased use of health IT can enable enhanced characterization of the determinants of disparities; the design of novel and more effective clinical and behavioral healthcare interventions; and improvements in current interventions. To ensure investments in health IT are used to benefit the most vulnerable Americans, several federal health IT initiatives (including those authorized under HITECH) focus on addressing the needs of underserved communities and the providers that care for them.

Ongoing efforts at Agencies such as the Office of Minority Health, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Health Resources and Services Administration tackle the challenge of health IT and disparities in various ways, from grants to safety net health care providers, to collaboration and engagement with the vendor community and oversight of HITECH grants and cooperative agreements. This session will summarize federal efforts in this area, highlighting those federal grantees, initiatives that provide the greatest opportunities to improve the health and health care for communities, including minority and underserved communities that experience disparities in care.