Doctors hear it all the time: if they kept patients’ files on computers instead of on paper, it would save time and money-and patients would get better care. Still, less than five percent of U.S. physicians use electronic record systems. But new regulations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services could finally force doctors to enter the digital age.
None of the regulations, the first set of which is due to take effect in October 2002, prohibits the use of paper records, but they require health-care organizations to document and manage so much information that paper-based offices will likely find themselves unable to comply. “The whole field of medicine is going to change dramatically,” says David Kibbe, CEO of Canopy Systems, a clinical software firm in Chapel Hill, NC.
The regulations, combined with rising concerns about medical errors, have prompted nearly two-thirds of doctors to make plans to implement electronic record systems, according to a recent survey by the research firm Gartner. And some 300 software companies nationwide are waiting in the wings, offering everything from speech recognition software to replace note-taking to programs that help doctors make treatment decisions.
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