Obama administration pushes toward EMR

The Obama administration is moving to ease the national transition from paper to electronic health records through a pair of proposed rules to be published this week. The rules, to hit Tuesday's Federal Register, would update and extend existing regulations surrounding the sharing of patient electronic records. Federal law generally prohibits hospitals from giving medical record software to doctors who would then use it to refer patients back to the facility for treatment. Violations can be charged as felonies and are punishable by prison time and fined up to $25,000.