Combating Health Inequities Through EHR Data Collection

Addressing care disparities must first begin with clean, standardized data that allows providers and system administrators to identify the underlying problems. Only when these disparities are highlighted can steps be made to address these challenges.

Information from one clinic may not be accessible to the health system a patient is referred to. Whether the root cause challenges to interoperability or a lack of gathering that information initially, it promotes discordance in care delivery. Providers may need to search for information that should be easily accessible or ask patients questions they have already answered.

Standardizing what information is captured in the EHR would allow providers within and between systems to better coordinate care as all the information needed to make care recommendations would be easily accessible.