We need to bridge the gap between the medical libraries and the hospital rooms take the information out there already add to it focus it harness it - and bring it to the patient who was just diagnosed today.

I would like to promote the concept of a partnership of insurance companies physicians and hospitals in deploying a basic framework for an electronic medical records system that is affordable.

Even top caliber hospitals cannot escape medical mistakes that sometimes result in irreparable damage to patients.

Consider this: I can go to Antarctica and get cash from an ATM without a glitch but should I fall ill during my travels a hospital there could not access my medical records or know what medications I am on.

Whether it's possible or not being a doctor you take an oath. To care for your patient not to kill them. You take an oath to do things that are proper in the medical world. Not to administer something outside of a hospital setting that's not even your area.

The current medical records system is this: Room after room after room in a hospital filled with paper files.

It is my sincere hope that hospitals across Indiana and America continue to strive for excellence when it comes to providing medical care. This proposed rule will be harmful to communities who wish to upgrade their medical facilities.

Procedures outside the stadiums and in the parking areas still need to be optimized for example so that emergency medical services can leave the grounds on their way to the hospital faster.

Long gone are the days when hospital stays and surgeries made up the bulk of seniors' annual medical expenses.

During a trip to Iraq last fall I visited our theater hospital at Balad Air Force Base and witnessed these skilled medical professionals in action and met the brave soldiers whose lives they saved.