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Physicians across Iowa have the opportunity to participate in a national pilot program aimed at making electronic medical records more accessible for smaller practices.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt visited Des Moines on Jan. 31 to pitch the plan to local health-care executives. The agency is seeking 12 “communities” of physicians to participate in a five-year pilot program in which each of the 12 communities would organize 100 small to medium-sized physician practices to coordinate their use of electronic medical records. In return for their participation, which includes having an EMR system or installing it within the first year, the physician groups would qualify for higher Medicare reimbursement rates during the program period.

“Iowa has a great start,” Leavitt said in an interview following his presentation to doctors. “The major (health) networks that cover most of the state provide access to electronic health records for many physicians. This is a state that can create a model that others can emulate. The second thing is, there’s a spirit of innovation here. Also, the basic infrastructure, the fiber network (Iowa Communications Network) and other things make it a very good candidate for us to be building with.”

Electronic medical records, which have been adopted by an estimated 15 percent of physician practices nationally, replace paper charts and patient records with digitally stored information that can be easily accessed by physicians and other health-care providers. The cost and interoperability of such systems have been major barriers to doctors adopting them, however.

The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative is coordinating the potential program for Iowa. Dr. Tom Evans, the IHC’s president and chief executive officer, said his organization is now waiting on more details from the HHS before it can proceed further.