Panel Set to Study Safety Of Electronic Patient Data.

Almost two years ago, President Obama pledged $19 billion in stimulus incentives to help convert the nation's doctors and hospitals to using a paperless system of electronic health records intended to improve the quality of care and reduce costs. But the conversion is still a slow work in progress. Only about one in four doctors, mostly in large group practices, is using the electronic record system. A vast majority of physicians in small offices, the doctors who serve most Americans, still track patients' illnesses and other problems with pen and paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]