Should I buy my EMR now? The experts weigh in

Doctors have many questions about electronic medical records, especially now that the federal government is pushing for their use.

By Tyler Chin, AMNews staff. Oct. 11, 2004.

Until now, most physicians haven't seriously considered -- much less felt compelled to even think about -- buying an electronic medical records system.

But that started to change after the Health and Human Services Dept. in July released a strategic plan outlining a broad array of steps it plans to take to implement a national health information network and electronic records for every American within the next decade. Those include calling on the public and private sectors to offer financial incentives to encourage doctors in small- to medium-size practices to adopt an EMR.

Here are some common questions physicians have regarding EMRs and HHS' advocacy of them, followed by answers gleaned from physicians and technology experts.

So, should I buy an EMR now? There's no need to rush. The HHS plan doesn't mandate that physicians use EMRs. Also, the plan offers a broad vision of where HHS wants to move the industry, but no specifics on how.

"There are lots of details that have to be filled in to assure that the program will actually work and that clinicians will actually adopt technology," said Peter Basch, MD, co-chair of the Physicians' Electronic Health Record Coalition, which the AMA and 13 other medical societies founded in July to help doctors learn, choose and implement affordable EMRs.

In general, PEHRC supports the concept of using information technology as a tool to improve care and patient safety but hasn't yet taken a formal position on the HHS plan, said Dr. Basch, an internist at a four-doctor group owned by MedStar Health, a health system in the Washington, D.C., area.