Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Patient-Provider Communication and the Role of E-Health Use

Abstract

Although the health care industry has strived to address racial/ethnic disparities in health communication, several gaps remain. Previous findings suggest that communication technology might help narrow the gaps; however, they do not provide a comprehensive picture of how or why. To answer these questions, we examined the potential role of communication technology in mitigating the racial/ethnic disparities in patient-provider communication. Data analysis of the 2018 Health Information National Trends Survey (N= 3,504) revealed that the levels of perceived quality of communication with health care providers were lower among Asians and Hispanics than non-Hispanic Whites while no difference emerged between Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites. Although the adoption of communication technology was relatively high across minority groups, its use appeared to play different roles in different racial/ethnic populations. The Internet and patient portals showed no particular associations with patient-provider communication except for Black Internet users, who reported poorer experiences with patient-provider communication than non-users. Among Asians and Hispanics, social media and mobile communication appeared to play different roles in impacting communication experiences with health care providers. The findings suggest that communication technologies need to be strategically utilized and tailored to better meet the communication needs of racial/ethnic minorities.

Notes

¹ One item (i.e., “download your health information to your computer or mobile device, such as a cell phone or tablet?”) was excluded from the composite scale to differentiate the patient portal from other e-health means.

² The general use of social media (i.e., “to visit a social networking site, such as Facebook or LinkedIn”) was not included in the index.

³ The last item in the question set—“Helped you in discussions with your health care provider?”—was excluded because this user action overlapped with patient portal use.

⁴ Covariates were recoded when applicable: education (1 = college graduate, 0 = else), marital status (1 = married/living as married, 0 = else), employment status (1 = employed, 0 = else), and English proficiency (1 = Very well, 0 = else).