WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 4, 2005 -- EMRConsultant.com ( http://www.emrconsultant.com ) today welcomed President Bush's renewed call during his State of the Union address for "improved information technology to prevent medical error and needless costs."

"We're very pleased and supportive of this aspect of the President's domestic agenda, which is ultimately aimed at bringing about more affordable health care," said orthopedic surgeon Eric S. Fishman, M.D., the founder and President of EMRConsultant.com.

"President Bush has proposed to double the budget to $125 million for demonstration projects related to health information technology, which will save lives and help to reduce costs. It's noteworthy that the potential savings from widespread utilization of Electronic Medical Records solutions has been estimated at between 10% and 20% of the estimated $1.7 trillion in health care spending," Dr. Fishman added.

Replying to reporters at the Cleveland Clinic last week, the President stated in part, "... when you multiply the efficiencies to be gained, all across the spectrum, whether it be individual docs or hospitals or networks, that's why some predict that you can save 20 percent of the cost of health care as a result of the advent of information technology."

"It seems obvious that EMR adoption would equate to between $170 billion and $340 billion savings annually. This is a remarkably similar number to the $200 billion shortfall that has been projected for Social Security in the year 2027," Dr. Fishman added.

Delivering his State of the Union address, the President stated, "I ask Congress to move forward on a comprehensive health care agenda with tax credits to help low-income workers buy insurance; a community health center in every poor county; improved information technology to prevent medical error and needless costs; association health plans for small businesses and their employees; expanded health savings accounts; and medical liability reform that will reduce health care costs and make sure patients have the doctors and care they need."

Dr. Fishman and his team conduct extensive research for evaluating EMR software programs based on core functional capabilities and have developed a proprietary method to facilitate a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of medical records software products. It is Dr. Fishman's belief that by taking some of the guesswork out of choosing an EMR, and by doing much of the research for physicians, that he may be able to materially speed up the nationwide adoption of electronic medical record technology. EMRConsultant.com announced last week that it had surpassed initial projections since it launched a free online portal to help doctors better evaluate the hundreds of choices on the market when seeking Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) solutions.

A long-time proponent for Electronic Medical Records, Dr. Fishman launched EMRConsultant.com as a spin-off of 1450 Inc., distributor of ScanSoft(R) Dragon NaturallySpeaking(R) Medical manufactured by ScanSoft, Inc., the global leader of speech and imaging solutions.

SOURCE EMRConsultant.com

Web Site: http://www.emrconsultant.com

Mark Hopkinson 561-852-5767
NewsMarkPR@Bellsouth.net