'Paperless' offices assist compliance, efficiency. (HIPAA Regulation, Medicare Claims).

An electronic medical record may have saved the life of one of Dr. Tamara Wetterman Price's patients.

Dr. Price, an internist in Moon, Pa., recalls a phone call she got late one night: One of her patients was in the emergency room with an infection that had spread to her bloodstream. The ER staff wanted to know if the woman was allergic to any antibiotics.

Dr. Price struggled to recall, but couldn't. Then she remembered a notation she had made in the patient's electronic chart, and pulled the chart up on her home computer. The woman was highly allergic to two antibiotics, one of which had previously caused her to go into cardiac arrest. Dr. Price warned against administering either drug, just moments before an ER physician was about to give her the very drug that had caused the earlier heart failure.

"This made the electronic medical record (system) worth every penny we paid for it," Dr. Price said. Home access to patient records is a common feature in these systems; security is ensured through encryption or use of passwords.

The use of electronic medical records creates what is often called a "paperless" medical office. Paperless offices can vary in the level of technology and extent of automation. In one office, a physician may choose to automate only patients' medical records. In another, a physician may choose to automate billing, scheduling, and other areas as well.

Most electronic medical records systems used by physicians have the capacity to do billing and scheduling, said Bruce Kleaveland, senior vice president of sales and marketing with Physician Micro Systems, a software company in Seattle.

Internist Jay Franks runs a nearly paperless practice in Magnolia, Ark. Each of the five exam rooms in his office is outfitted with a computer terminal so that Dr. Franks can access a patient's electronic chart during the examination. At the end of the visit, Dr. Franks dictates his notes directly into the patient's chart via a computer outfitted with voice transcription software.