Stakeholders Calculate the Possibility of a Health Care Digital Divide

In the March issue of Health Affairs, researchers from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT presented results of a health IT meta-analysis. Their research looked at previous studies on health IT's effect on access to care, patient satisfaction and other factors.

The researchers reported that 92% of the 154 studies they reviewed reached overall positive conclusions on the effect of health IT. One of the outlier studies looked at health IT implementation at a rural hospital. According to the study, "The hospital was hindered by a lack of clinical leadership, staff skepticism, turnover in the executive team, an overly aggressive schedule and a vendor whose products were not ready on time." This "negative findings" study syncs with concerns voiced by some industry experts that health care providers who serve low-income or rural residents might not have the necessary resources to adopt health IT.