If the health care industry evolves as some say it will, podiatrist David J. Freedman may one day be regarded as a medical IT pioneer.

Freedman had an electronic records system installed at his Silver Spring practice way back in 1997. Last October, he decided to have a new electronic billing system set up, one that is compatible with the records system.

Freedman, president of the Maryland Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners, said most of his colleagues are still largely shunning such information technology, using paper-based systems and filing cabinets. Only 1.5 percent of hospitals nationwide have fully computerized medical record systems, according to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The system has not only saved us time and money, but it has improved our efficiency," said Freedman, who presides over Ambulatory Foot & Ankle Center. "For instance, we know right away whether patients are covered" by medical insurance.

But spurred by up to $19 billion promised in federal stimulus funds for health care providers to install electronic medical record systems, more medical offices, hospitals and other providers are switching, or at least expressing interest in technological changes these days. State proposals, including a measure passed by the legislature, are also expected to fuel the changes.

Todd Johnson, president of Salar, a Baltimore company that provides electronic clinical documentation and billing products to hospitals such as Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, said he just executed a new deal with another Baltimore-area hospital.

"The funds in the federal stimulus package are really driving this increase in interest," Johnson said.

Other facilities, such as Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, have recently installed new systems to computerize records and physicians' orders.

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