Patient portals could widen health disparities

Online patient portals are increasingly important for doctor-patient communication and access to health care information. But patient portals could widen the gap in health disparities. Patients with low health literacy, less education and who are African American were much less likely to use these portals compared with white patients and those who were more health literate. These people lose the opportunity to easily engage their doctor about health concerns or medications, quickly refill prescriptions and get lab results, authors of a new report say.

from Today's Healthcare News -- ScienceDaily http://ift.tt/1GBNbRh