Kaiser's Long and Winding Road

Howard J. Anderson, Executive Editor

Health Data Management Magazine, August 1, 2009

Electronic health records are in the spotlight, thanks to the federal economic stimulus package. Many hospitals and physician groups are scrambling to draft strategies to fully implement EHRs in time to qualify for maximum federal incentive payments. Relatively few have rolled out every component of a truly comprehensive EHR.

But Kaiser Permanente is entering the home stretch in what's turned out to be a seven-year drive to implement comprehensive EHRs, personal health records and related systems at all of its hospitals and clinics. The experiences of the Oakland-Calif.-based not-for-profit organization, which owns 431 medical offices and 35 hospitals plus a large health plan, provide valuable insights for others that aren't as far along.

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