With every leap and bound made in terms of technological advancement, new ideas are being developed in every industry in regards to digital information. One of the main fields where electronic record keeping is being considered heavily is the health and medicine industry. In fact, President Barack Obama has made it a priority in his oft-debated health care plan to ensure that hospitals begin implementing electronic health records, also known as EHRs. The main objective of these records is to have broad access to anyone’s health records when an accident occurs anywhere across the country.

Unfortunately, this kind of system is facing difficulties in poor and small areas, according to an article from Computerworld. The implementation of such technology can cost thousands of dollars, which hospitals have to spend, but most local clinics and small practices do not:

“Most of the clinics in underprivileged areas serve patients who rely on Medicaid and Medicare for health insurance, so the providers have less money to install EHRs, hire IT specialists or train staff to maintain the systems. Another barrier to adoption is education. Health care practices in rural or underserved communities don’t always have information about what EHRs are available, how to migrate to them and what needs to be done in preparation for that.”

The IT support needed for these programs can be quite difficult to have, particularly when no one already working at such a facility can handle any problems with the system. The government is offering some financial assistance to practices adding HER capabilities, but those benefits will end in 2015. Electronic health records are a great idea for streamlining the medical information of Americans, but how long will it be before more than 20% of physicians and 10% of hospitals have the resources necessary to make such a system work?