Health IT: Federal, Private Efforts Begin to Pay Off

EHR adoption is inevitable, Dr. Allen said, if only because so many younger physicians were trained on EHRs and it is not acceptable to them to go back to a paper system once they enter practice. And older physicians recognize that the change is coming, she said.

But Dr. Allen advised physicians that they don't need to jump into a full-blown EHR system. Electronic prescribing systems and electronic patient registries may be easier to adopt than a full EHR system. Physicians can also purchase EHRs in a modular fashion so that they can ramp up over time, she said.