On February 12, 2015, Center Assistant Professor Dr. Karen Kelly-Blake presented a poster, “African-American Patients’ Perception of Health Information Technology Use in their Doctor’s Office: A Qualitative Analysis of Telephone Interviews,” at the 2015 Conference for the National Association of African American Studies & Affiliates in Baton Rouge, LA.
The study is a qualitative analysis of semi-structured phone interviews with 12 African American patients (6 female; 6 male) participating in the Decision Aid to Technologically Enhance Shared Decision Making (DATES) (Jimbo, PI, R01CA52413) study to explore their perceptions and concerns about the use and acceptability of health information technology (HIT) use in healthcare settings. Preliminary interview analysis identified three common themes in patient comments concerning the use of HIT in their particular health care setting: 1) concern about security and privacy; 2) increased and immediate access to provider; and 3) improved capacity to share medical information with other doctors. Participants liked the accessibility to nurses and doctors that HIT provided. They mentioned concerns about potential security and privacy issues, but these concerns did not abate their enthusiasm for making use of the available technology. Based on this study, it is too early to make firm recommendations about how to best implement HIT to address health care disparities as health care organizations adopt, expand, and tailor their HIT systems. However, appropriate implementation strategies will need to include patient input and experience as HIT in clinical settings become the mandated norm.
Read more about the NIH-funded study on the Center’s website.
MSU Bioethics 