Alabama rural health center among 4% of U.S. practices that manage records electronically

Located in Parrish, AL, the Capstone Rural Health Center has something even big-city medical practices lack: a functioning electronic medical records system. At the center, exam rooms have computers, medical histories are entered into databases, bills are transferred over the Internet to insurers, and patients are tracked automatically during appointments. The center is a rarity, according to a recent poll that found only 4% of medical practices in the U.S. have fully functional systems to handle EMRs, and most of those are in large practices.