While visiting the American History Smithsonian museum with my niece yesterday we came upon the Greensboro luncheon counter from the 1960s civil rights student sit-in. Visitors were encouraged to leave comments on an adjacent bulletin board. In the midst of participants' wishes and dreams for ‘peace,’ ‘economic equality’ and ‘racial justice’ was ‘universal healthcare for all.’ Having spent more than 25 years in healthcare, with more than 20 years in provider organizations, I was compelled to reflect on my experience working in various settings, the health needs of the most vulnerable, the message Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shared with us almost 50 years ago and my excitement over the promise the latest technologies entering our industry offer.
The unprecedented adoption rate of mobile phones and wireless technologies along with text messaging, vital tracking sensors, geo-locators, social media and connectivity to the Internet offers incredible opportunities to improve health and well being and reduce health disparities throughout the globe.
Can these technologies provide world peace? Not on their own, but they have been at the heart of several recent civil unrests and have provided a voice for many without one before their existence.
Can they provide economic equality and racial justice? That’s a tall order, but they may assist us in providing healthcare parity. These devices do not see color, race, religion or economic status. Researchers are studying whether switching to electronic health records (EHRs) and using Health Information Technology (HIT) helps to close health gaps among black, white and Hispanic Americans. Initial findings by Dr. Samal at Partners in Boston found “a racial gap in well-controlled blood pressure patients among doctors who didn't use EHRs, but not among those who did.” (Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan. 9, 2012) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Office of Minority Health (OMH) are leading efforts through a Health IT Disparities Workgroup to ensure we reduce health IT disparities within underserved communities. Texting programs are being funded in low-income, rural, urban and disparate populations such as Text for Baby, Health, Smoking, Abuse and PTSD. The Pew Internet study in January 2011 found that African Americans and Latinos in the U.S. lead the adoption of mobile technologies and use of cell phone features at higher rates than whites. Minorities are also more likely to look for health information on the Internet. More research is needed, but early indicators are promising that these tools will serve to equalize care disparities and assist in closing the digital divide.
Will the United States see universal healthcare for all Americans? Will we end the spread of controllable communicable diseases worldwide? Mobile and wireless technologies provide us with affordable access to data, communications and connections and make access to healthcare and providers for all possible. We now have the ability to reach health-disparate populations not only in the rural and urban areas here in the U.S., but into the far corners of the earth. These technologies will not solve all problems, but they will play an essential role in bending the cost curve, providing resources to care for those in need, allowing our elderly to ‘age in place’ with dignity, increasing health literacy, engaging patients from all walks of life and serving traditionally underserved and at-risk populations.
When Dr. King shared his “I have a dream” speech with our country, I doubt he was thinking about how scientific and technological advances would provide opportunities for equality, peace and our well-being, but they have. We have created tools to close the healthcare chasm and not only reduce the digital divide, but through the use of these advanced technologies we have the opportunity to eliminate it completely. Healthcare has room for many more dreams and the need for many of us to roll up our sleeves and get busy utilizing these manmade miracles to ensure they come true.
As Dr. King said, "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase. ..."
Links:
[1] http://www.mhimss.org/blog/author/3126