Will Digital Technology Reduce Gap in Health Between Rich and Poor?

Two years ago, the Ethio American Health Center opened its doors in the nation’s capital, promising the country’s largest community of Ethiopian immigrants a place where doctors spoke their language and understood their culture.

Many of the community’s poorest quickly flocked to the center. But for all the specialized services the center offers patients, there’s one area where it’s fallen short: moving from paper files to electronic health records. They don’t even have a website.

“It would be great, but we can’t afford it,” said Dawit Gizaw, the center’s administrator.

The center is not alone. Although the federal government is directing billions of dollars in economic stimulus money to get electronic health record technology into hospitals and clinics nationwide, some doctors and small clinics indicate they’re unlikely to meet the Obama administration’s goal of going digital in the next five years.