Hospitals, vendors - not Washington - to drive EMR use

Washington can encourage physicians to buy electronic medical record systems, but it is the vendors and hospitals that affiliate with physicians that will ultimately determine if they go electronic, according to a new report from healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information. The report, EMR 2010 (Market Analysis, ARRA Incentives, Key Players, and Important Trends), represents the second time this year that Kalorama has surveyed EMR markets and is a reforecast of its predictions from earlier in the year, made before the U.S. government announced HITECH Act incentives for physicians who use EMR.