Feds offer $19B in e-records stimulus funding

Pulmonary Care of Central Florida is installing a new electronic medical records system — a move that may help it land some of the $19 billion in federal stimulus funds earmarked for health information technology.

The Winter Park medical group, which has one doctor and two nurse practitioners, decided to do so to reduce the amount of space needed for records storage and to save time, said MaryAnn Simmons, the practice’s administrator.

She estimated such systems cost $50,000-$70,000, take about a month to install and up to eight months to master.

It’s unknown how many local doctors use electronic medical records, but Melanie Boscan, executive director of the Orange County Medical Society, estimated at least 20 percent have them — and the rest may be waiting to see how the federal stimulus incentives shake out. “Doctors are a little leery. Until they are all mandated to have a system, you’re not going to see a rush.”

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