In 2009, the U.S. Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which provided nearly $26 billion as incentives toward transforming medical records from paper-based to electronic. For those who make the conversion early and fulfill a level of computer utilization termed "meaningful use," there will be monetary bonuses. For those who do not adopt electronic medical records (EMRs) by 2015, there will be reductions of 1 to 5 percent on Medicaid and Medicare payments. The result of this carrot-and-stick approach is that essentially all health care providers are making the uncomfortable transition in their offices from paper to computer.

The reason the government is encouraging this change is based on studies showing that electronic records are more secure, that preventive measures could be better implemented electronically, and that health records could be shared across providers, thus avoiding duplication of testing. If these assumptions were true, medical quality could be improved while costs would decrease.

Unfortunately, as Groopman and Hartzband pointed out in the Wall Street Journal, the studies that show those improvements were conducted by those very companies that would profit most if EMRs were adapted as a national standard. A simple review of the reality of EMRs shows a much less optimistic view.

Read More: The Huffington Post