EMR

automation of the HealthCare process

Healtheon is in this space...

CCR is an emerging standard...

some random thoughts:

the idea of small doctor's offices buying a locally-run EMR app sounds insane to me these days
everyone needs Broad Band so software like this can be provided as an ASP
if everyone thinks that Prescription Drugs errors are a biggest or most-preventable category of Medical Error, then starting out by pushing that narrow behavior change might make a lot of sense: Online Prescribing
and of course the government can impose electronic filing for reimbursement
and further applications can be extended a bit at a time, and integrated in terms of granular transactions via Web Services standards. This might not quickly lead toward a fully-integrated EMR view, but that's not necessarily warranted for most patients
there's obviously a huge Digital Identity problem surrounding all this data being shared loosely
and a potentially huge transition cost if an attempt is made for spooge all history into it up front. A more realistic and pragmatic approach might be to focus on putting a small amount of summary data into the system for existing patients, and just moving forward.

Bill Seitz