Centering techquity through biomedical informatics centers at minority-serving academic institutions providing informatics solutions for urban safety-net settings

Abstract

The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) Center for Bio-medical Informatics (CBI) is the only center of its kind at a U.S. minority-serving academic institution. The CBI’s goal is to help fulfill CDU’s mission of reducing health disparities through biomedical informatics, a multi-disciplinary field focusing on how biomedical data can be transformed to improve human health. We review CBI activities promoting health information technology solutions to enhance health equity for medically underserved and under-resourced South Los Angeles populations experiencing a digital divide, and we con-textualize such a center’s importance for TechQuity. Working with Los Angeles safety-net clinics and hospitals, which provide care to patients regardless of insurance status, ability to pay, or citizenship status, CBI faculty members have conducted research and provided solutions in a variety of areas, including telehealth, machine learning, computerized decision support, sociotechnical expertise, mHealth apps, and international efforts to create health information systems standards.