PAMF’s electronic health record (EHR) is designed to reduce the risk for medical errors, decrease costs and improve the overall quality of health care. Only about 10 percent of U.S. health care organizations have implemented a comprehensive EHR system.

PAMF, which implemented its EHR system in 1999, was one of the earliest adopters of this technology and remains one of the few physician groups in the Bay Area to have adopted such a system.

The Bush Administration outlined a plan to ensure that Americans have EHRs in the next 10 years and proposed investing $125 million in health information technology projects. Nationwide implementation of EHRs would allow patients to transfer their information between health care facilities more easily.

For example, physicians treating a patient in the emergency room could call up that person's medical information from another doctor. It would also help public health officials identify disease outbreaks or potential bioterrorism attacks more quickly.