NYT interviews Dr. Blumenthal, the President's EMR "czar"

From the NYTimes:

We found that about 17 percent of physicians in 2008 had adopted an electronic health record, and about ten percent of hospitals.

The Danes have virtually 100 percent of physicians using electronic health records. In Britain, virtually 100 percent of primary care physicians use them. In Australia, Sweden, Norway, virtually 100 percent. In many, many other Western countries, the electronic record is virtually ubiquitous.

From 2011 to 2015, there is a bonus (for adopting EMR). After 2015, if you have not adopted, and you see Medicare or Medicaid patients, you may experience a penalty.

On average, the cost is between $40,000 and $50,000, of which about a third is the software and the hardware, about a third is the cost of getting it set up in the office, and about a third is maintaining it.

References:
Computerized Health Records. NYT, 2009.

Medical Malpractice Liability in the Age of Electronic Health Records - NEJM, 2010 http://goo.gl/cGZG9