Re: American Academy of FP and open source EMR, CRISNET

[david derauf]

WSJ looks at plan to stimulate EMR adoption January 16, 2003 The American Academy of Family Physicians this week is expected to approve a plan to develop open-source electronic medical records (EMRs), a move that could provide physicians with low-cost, Web-based patient records, the Wall Street Journal reports. While many large hospitals and health systems have recently shifted to EMRs, physician offices have been slow to embrace the technology, according to the Journal. EMR systems can cost $10,000 to $15,000 a year just for the software, but 75% of AAFP members are in smaller physician practices with three or fewer doctors, according to Dr. David Kibbe, the group�s director of health information technology. The open-source software will run on physicians� existing computers and won�t have a license fee, the Journal reports. The records will be stored on a secure Internet site, where they can be shared with patients and other physicians. Kibbe intends to recruit 10,000 of the AAFP�s 95,000 physicians for the project by the end of 2004. The AAFP also has contacted other medical societies about joining the effort. However, several issues remain surrounding the EMRs, such as what medical support tools to choose for the software, who will fix software problems if something goes wrong and whether patients or physicians will have ultimate control of the records (Landro, 1/16).