EMRs gaining more mainstream media steam

It's finally becoming newsworthy in local markets for hospitals to adopt EMRs. A quick scan of the newswires this morning reveals quite a few EMR-related stories from local news sources.

"Hospitals across the country are preparing to take the paperwork out of patient care," reports KTBS-TV in Texarkana, Texas. "This is going to be a difficult and slow transition. I do support the use of electronic health records by physicians and hospitals, but it's not something you can snap your fingers, there are a lot of challenges and it's very costly," explains Dr. John Fleming, who happens to be a member of Congress from nearby Louisiana. Fleming claims that his practice was the first in his state to implement an EMR.

"Local Hospitals Going Electronic," is the headline used by KPSP-TV in Thousand Palms, Calif.

"This is much more efficient," Dr. Frank Ercoli of Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, Calif., tells the CBS affiliate. "Computerized access to laboratories, computerized access to medications, computerized access to x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, basically at the speed of the Internet...allowing the doctor and the nurse to have 24 hour access to the patient's medical record, be right on top of their care."

Vermont Public Radio also reports on the growing EMR push, on the occasion of visit by national health IT coordinator Dr. David Blumenthal to the Vermont Information Technology Leaders Summit in South Burlington. Blumenthal spoke to correspondent Mitch Wertlieb.

Spread the word: EMRs are coming to a hospital or doctor's office near you.

For more coverage:
- view this KTBS-TV story from Texarkana, Texas
- see this piece from KPSP-TV in the California desert
- listen to this Vermont Public Radio interview with Blumenthal