HHS assists Katrina E-records recovery.

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Hurricane Katrina destroyed a large number of paper medical records maintained by physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities in the Gulf Coast region.

Providers and payers that used electronic medical records, however, were largely able to preserve their systems and patient information, despite Katrina's devastation. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt recently announced that HHS has made agreements with organizations to plan and promote the widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) in the regions affected by recent hurricanes.

The agreements are with:

* The Southern Governors' Association, to host the Gulf Coast Health Information Task Force, which will bring together local and national resources and coordinate the planning for a digital health information recovery

* The State of...