Pilot project studies EHR implementation issues.

President Bush has made implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) a priority and wants EHRs used nationwide by 2010. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has a more ambitious goal: to have 50% of active members using EHRs by the end of 2005. To help make that goal a reality, the Academy is conducting a pilot project that should fi nd out exactly what it will take to implement an EHR system in a family medicine setting. “I think of this pilot project as a ‘real world laboratory’ in which our family physicians are working together with some of the very best and innovative IT companies to help design a low-cost, standards-based EHR option that could eventually be used by many thousands of practices,” said David C. Kibbe, MD, director of AAFP’s Center for Health Information Technology. “The family physicians are also learning how to overcome problems encountered with implementation, connectivity, and training.” How did the Academy fi nd members willing to participate? Simple. It asked for volunteers. Six FPs, from practices scattered across the country, were chosen from 21 applicants. The physicians—along with technical support teams from MedPlexus, Inc, Hewlett-Packard, and Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corp—have been immersed in the pilot since January. The companies are partners in AAFP’s EHR initiative, Partners for Patients. The FPs in the pilot are John Sattenspiel, MD, of Salem, Ore, a member of the AAFP Board of Directors; John Wilson, MD, of Daly City, Calif; Kenneth Bertka, MD, of Holland, Ohio; Michael Peterson, MD, of Herriman, Utah; Desiree Butter, MD, of Pittsburgh, Pa; and Ronald Hughes, MD, of Whitakers, NC.