IT is supposed to help lessen healthcare disparities, but if Medicaid-dependent clinics don't adopt EMRs and other health IT, disparities between rich and poor could widen, one advocacy organization says.

"Medicaid programs have been striving to actively engage small, high-volume practices in HIT adoption and practice transformation. These efforts have been very challenging for all parties with limited results to date," Dianne Hasselman, director of quality and equality at the Center for Health Care Strategies, told the federal Health IT Policy Committee's workgroup on meaningful use, InformationWeek reports.

But physician practices that serve large Medicaid populations are so busy trying to keep up with a challenging patient panels and pay the bills that they often can't or don't make IT a priority. The message the Hamilton, N.J.-based Center for Health Care Strategies has been getting is: "Hey, don't even talk to me about HIT now. Help me with practice management, help me just to keep my shingle out, and then I can take a breath and get some breathing space and focus more on HIT or quality improvement," Hasselman said.

Though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act does offer greater bonuses for physicians serving large Medicaid panels--as much as $63,750, compared to $44,000 for those participating in the Medicare incentive program--Hasselman said that high-volume clinics choosing the Medicaid path may get left behind if they can't connect with the Regional Extension Center program or join with other, like-minded practices. She noted that about half of Medicaid beneficiaries in the Detroit area receive care at solo or very small practices.

To learn more about this conundrum:
- check out this InformationWeek story

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