Age and race disparities in the use of new technologies-the digital divide-may be limiting the potential of patient-facing health information technology to improve health and health care. To investigate whether disparities exist in the use of patient portals designed specifically for the inpatient environment. Patients admitted to the six hospitals affiliated with a large, Midwestern academic medical center from July 2017 to July 2018 were provided with access to a tablet equipped with an inpatient portal and recruited to participate in the study (n We found both age and race disparities in use of the inpatient portal. Patients aged 60-69 (45.3% difference, p p p These findings suggest that the availability of the technology alone may be insufficient to overcome barriers to use and that additional intervention may be needed to close the digital divide. We identified lower use of the inpatient portal among African American and older patients, relative to White and younger patients, respectively.