Some hospitals stuck between digital, paper medical records.

• Position: HEALTH RECORDS

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As hospitals transition to electronic medical records (EMRs), many are not adequately planning for the in-between period when they might be running dual paper and electronic systems, according to the results of an Iron Mountain survey that were released in July.

Iron Mountain's survey report coincides with the first anniversary of the publication of the final stage 1 rules for "meaningful use" of EMRs.

According to the survey, 70% of the 201 health information professionals surveyed earlier in 2011 said their organizations will achieve meaningful use by the end of 2011. But only 14% expect to be free of paper records within a year. That means there will be a fairly long transition period, Ken Rubin, senior vice president and general manager for healthcare at Iron Mountain, told Information Week Healthcare.

In the meantime, Rubin said he sees kind of a "no-man's land" between paper and digital record-keeping. The survey shows a haphazard approach to scanning paper records.

For example, about one-third of hospitals surveyed have decided to scan all paper records, even redundant or outdated ones. Nearly half of larger hospitals have completed scanning plans, but only 23% of hospitals with fewer...