That was the message from several speakers at the inaugural National Health IT Day in Washington last week. The event was sponsored by more than 40 public- and private-sector health care and standards organizations looking to show the potential of IT to improve health care and help control its spiraling costs.

Officials at some regional health information organizations, which have been created to facilitate the exchange of health data among local hospitals, physicians and insurers, said they face financial hurdles as they begin work on creating EMR systems.

Leisa Jenkins, executive director of CareSpark, a RHIO encompassing northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, said the organization has so far received commitments for US$2.5 million in federal grants and contributions from members and area employers to launch an EMR system. The group needs $4 million to complete that project and estimates that $1.2 million would be required to cover annual operating costs.

"If we can get over the capital expenditure in Year 1, we can break even in Year 2, and by Year 3 we should be able to show a 3-to-1 ROI," she said.

CareSpark's business model requires that managers show stakeholders the likely savings that would come from exchanging patient data electronically, she said.