Under the stimulus of federal incentive funding, hospitals have rapidly moved to electronic medical records (EMRs). Hence, this study of how physicians in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting seek information from EMRs and/or paper charts is highly relevant.

The authors observed and carefully took notes on how a select group of physicians sought information from one or the other source, and queried them to explain their behavior. They found that information from the EMR was at a higher level of abstraction than that obtained from the paper chart.

The paper is not very interesting or novel. Important limits to the study are the small sample size and the unique environment, with a paper chart and EMR coexisting. The intended audience is those responsible for developing and/or implementing EMRs in a hospital setting.