A 'Digital Divide' In PHR Adoption

Medical News Today: The 'digital divide' among primary care patients adopting an online personal health record (PHR.)

"PHRs aim to increase patient access to personal health information, however wide use of PHRs will be difficult to achieve if patients cannot access this information because of a lack of Internet or computer access."

[...]

"In this study, we found the presence of a digital divide in a diverse population. Specifically, racial/ethnic minorities and patients with lower socioeconomic status were less likely to adopt a PHR. However, both of these groups used the PHR as much as other groups if they were able to adopt it. Whether the digital divide was caused by barriers in access to technology or reflects long-standing disparities in health-seeking behavior is less clear."

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