Race/ethnicity, personal health record access, and quality of care

To estimate the impact of race/ethnicity and written language preference on registration for a personal health record (PHR) that included emailing providers, viewing lab results, refilling prescriptions, and other functionalities, and the impact of PHR use on quality across racial/ethnic groups with comparable access.

Retrospective observational design among 3,173,774 adults. Factors affecting registration were assessed using logistic regression, and propensity score matching techniques assessed the impact of language preference on registration and PHR use on quality of care. Difference-in-differences methods assessed the significance of between-group changes in Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) scores, such as glycated hemoglobin and lipid screening and control.

Race/ethnicity most strongly predicted PHR registration. After adjusting for multiple factors, Asian American, Latino American, and African American members remained 23%, 55%, and 62% less likely to register, respectively, than non-Hispanic white members. Preference for Spanish as a written language predicted poor PHR adoption. The probability of registration was 0.451 (95% CI, 0.449-0.453) for English language-preferring Latinos and 0.174 (95% CI, 0.173-0.176) for Spanish language-preferring Latinos. For non- Hispanic whites, Latinos, and African Americans using the PHR, HEDIS scores increased after PHR use by 1.3 to 12.7 percentage points, compared with differences of -1.1 to 8.1 percentage points among nonusers. All but 2 difference-in-differences between PHR users and nonusers were statistically significant.

Nonwhite race/ethnicity and Spanish language preference independently predict poor PHR adoption. PHR use is associated with higher quality healthcare, and when PHR use is equivalent across racial/ethnic groups, so is quality of care.