Bowen & Kirk Quoted in Charlotte Business Journal

Charlotte Health Care Member Carol Bowen and Health Care Counsel Kimberly Kirk were quoted in the Charlotte Business Journal's July 29 edition.  The CBJ article, "How federal reform may drive move to electronic records," discussed the process hospitals and private practices are undergoing as some shift from use of tangible paper records and files to electronic medical records. 

According to the article, part of Obama's health care reform effort is to establish a national database of electronic health records, as it's expected to ultimately improve patient safety.  The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH Act, part of the 2009 federal stimulus bill, offers financial incentives to hospitals and doctors' practices that adopt electronic medical record systems. 

Bowen and Kirk discuss the critical need for selecting software that contains appropriate safeguards, to ensure that the security of a patient's confidential information is not compromised.  "Privacy rules apply whether records are paper or electronic," Bowen stated.