Meaningful Use Stage 3 Should Address Care Disparities

A consumer coalition of more than 50 consumer, patient and labor organizations has published a plan designed to thrust care disparities into center stage as part of Stage 3 of Meaningful Use, according to Healthcare IT News.

According to data from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the combined costs of premature death and health disparities in the U.S. were $1.24 trillion between 2003 and 2006. The group, the Consumer Partnership for eHealth, argues that these disparities will only increase as the country grows more diverse.

CPeH developed the plan after a year-long review of scientific literature, along with collaboration with experts on disparities in care and health IT. The plan focuses on data collection and use to identify disparities; language; literacy and communication and care coordination and planning, HIN reports.

The plan is designed to integrate disparities reduction with the other Stage 3 criteria to improve the identification and understanding of health disparities. The CPeH has submitted the plan to the Health IT Policy Committee, and has asked the committee to act on its recommendations.

Right now, the Meaningful Use program only requires basic identification of race, ethnicity and gender data collection. But the action plan would like to see Stage 3 include more stringent data collection standards designed by HHS, which would include disability status, sexual orientation and gender identity.

The group’s action plan includes recommendations that:

* EMRs have the ability to stratify patients’ specific conditions by demographic variables such as race, ethnicity, language, gender identity, sexual orientation and socio-economic status

* Providers make greater use of patient data collected and shared through mobile health applications

* Clinicians effectively communicate EMR information to patients, so patients can better make use of its benefits

While the goals outlined here are laudable, my sense is that even for doctors ready for Stage 3 Meaningful Use, requiring this level of data collection and analysis would be a difficult burden. I guess this one is a “wait and see” proposition.

About the author

Anne Zieger

Anne Zieger is a healthcare journalist who has written about the industry for 30 years. Her work has appeared in all of the leading healthcare industry publications, and she's served as editor in chief of several healthcare B2B sites.

   

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