A coalition based in Annapolis, Md., hopes by early 2007 to develop a prototype of an electronic network that would link physicians and hospitals in Maryland and Washington, D.C. The Washington Business Journal reports that the Maryland/D.C. Collaborative for Healthcare Information Technology wants to implement a secure network to provide practitioners with faster access to patient information and help them reduce medical errors. If the collaborative meets its deadline, it would be one of the nation's leaders in electronic medical record use. President Bush has established the goal of universal electronic medical record adoption by 2014 as a way to reduce between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths annually that are attributed to preventable medical mistakes. Read the Washington Business Journal article.
