Giving Compass' Take:
- Liz Carey reports on a recent study indicating that rural health systems are burdened by increasing data demands amid the switch to electronic record keeping.
- What are the root causes of the large gap between urban and rural hospitals updating electronic health records? How can philanthropy help resource rural health systems?
- Ask a custom question to find other nonprofits focused on rural health systems.
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As health care systems move toward more and more electronic record keeping, the labor it takes to manage that data threatens to cripple rural hospitals, according to industry insiders.
The data transfer between hospitals and other entities can negatively affect rural hospitals. The problem centers around the digital divide where rural healthcare facilities struggle to securely share or receive electronic health records, Jordan Bazinsky, CEO of Intelerad, wrote in MedCity News recently.
It’s called the “interoperability crisis.” In a rapidly changing and technological world, rural hospitals and older clinics may rely on older electronic health record (EHR) platforms that don’t communicate with modern application programming or advanced data-sharing capabilities.
A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine found that rural hospitals were less likely to adopt electronic health records or to manage the interoperability of different platforms communicating with one another. The study found that EHR adoption was significantly higher in urban hospitals at 74%, compared to rural hospitals at 64%.
“Significant disparities exist in EHR adoption and interoperability between rural and urban physicians. These disparities highlight the need for targeted interventions to enhance EHR adoption and interoperability in rural settings to ensure equitable access to healthcare technologies and improved patient outcomes across all communities,” the study found.
The lack of communication between platforms can put rural healthcare facilities at a disadvantage, leading to fragmented care when patient information can’t move from rural hospitals to larger urban medical centers or vice versa, or lead to increased costs when physicians have to repeat tests and scans because they can’t access prior diagnostic images or results, Angela Chubb, senior manager of quality and regulatory advisory services with Nordic, a global health and technology consulting company, said.
To compound the problem, technology departments in rural hospitals and clinics often only consist of one or two people already stretched thin trying to manage basic maintenance. Some rural hospitals may also lack reliable broadband infrastructure, or the financing to handle continuous system upgrades.
Read the full article about rural hospitals' data demands by Liz Carey at The Daily Yonder.