Small health facilities, solo practices face health IT challenges

News outlets report on trends in health IT and the implementation of electronic medical records.

Minnesota Public Radio: Health Care Reform Creates New Wave Of IT Workers
As part of the federal government's push to get hospitals and clinics to adopt electronic medical records, it's subsidizing IT training classes across the country. ... The push for better electronic health records is a worry for outstate health officials because they think the cost burden falls disproportionately on small, rural institutions and because it means there's one more kind of health care professional they need to attract out of the metropolitan area (Vogel, 6/17). 

The Connecticut Mirror: Hamden Doctor Explores The Changing Medical Landscape On His Own
doctor explores the changing medical landscape on his own
[Dr. Edward] Rippel isn't the first doctor to use electronic medical records or to practice as a patient-centered medical home, an increasingly popular concept in health care. But unlike most of those who do, Rippel is a solo practitioner. And whether more physicians can be like him is a key question for the future of health care in Connecticut (Levin Becker, 6/20).