Providence does away with paper trail, too. (Providence Health Systems' electronic medical records)(Focus on Health Care)

It used to be that health care was just between you and the doctor. You visited the office with a pain, left with a prescription and the insurer paid for it. No questions asked.

"Docs mostly had paper records because they were the only ones who needed to look at it," said Dr. Dick Gibson, medical director of Providence's Information Services Division.

Then came insurers wanting physicians to justify their bills, and health systems wanting to better manage health care. And finally, consumers demanded mere accountability in medicine.

Just as the airlines and banks went on line, medicine has embraced the computer age. Computers have long been involved in running medical devices. Now medicine is finally doing away with the paper trail of patient records and reports. The goal is greater efficiency, better patient care and more accountability.

At least two health systems in Portland are paving the …