While experts agree that electronic records in any form save time and increase patient safety, how EHRs are implemented and integrated can make all the difference.

E-visits appear to be on the present horizon, but reimbursements are still being worked out.

ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS of Deloitte Consulting's 2008 Survey of Health Care Consumers, nearly 80% of consumers want their physicians to provide online access to medical records and test results. Thus, the cry has gone out for physicians, providers and purchasers to respond quickly. In the travel and banking industries, data moves freely between applications—and that's the current challenge for the healthcare industry.

The use of technology to automate simple tasks has been widely adopted. E-mails broadcast information in a fraction of the time it would take a manual process. More complex tasks, however, require a human driver, and those tasks are in higher demand today.

When it comes to information technology, the more things change—the more work the CIO has to do. Once out of sight and out of mind in the basement mainframe rooms of corporate America, chief information officers are now sitting at the table in corporate boardrooms.

Physician peer interaction is only a click away thanks to online networking sites.

Employees have been receiving paychecks via direct deposit for almost 40 years. In 2005, there were 4.4 billion direct deposits. Physicians, however, have some catching up to do.

Earlier This Year Susan Andrews, MD, evaluated a broken arm for a long-time patient in her family practice. Without leaving her Memphis office, Dr. Andrews conducted a complete history, assessed the injury and arranged a referral to an orthopedist, even though the patient was actually 2,000 miles away vacationing in the Caribbean.

The benefits of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) are obvious, and have been for decades. And what better time than now, well into the Information Age, for HIEs to realize their full potential using real-time electronic communications over the Internet? As grant money to fund HIE startups and a national health information network begins to dry up, sustainability has become paramount.