VERO BEACH, FLA. — A stethoscope with three tiny koalas dangling from his neck and eyeglasses perched on his nose, Dennis Saver looks every bit the family doctor as he steps into the examining room of his small practice on Florida's Treasure Coast.
When Saver begins to examine his patient, however, the 56-year-old physician does something that four out of five doctors in America do not: He pulls out a computer.
The little black Toshiba, its edges worn to the bare metal, gets more use than the stethoscope and has become key to the care Saver gives his patients -- organizing medical histories, test results, prescriptions and other data that were once a jumble of paper records.
Saver's laptop, and the system behind it, put him on the cutting edge of what President Obama and many experts say is a critical step to improving the nation's healthcare system while also reining in costs.
It is known as "Health IT," an idea that promises to use information technology to cut medical errors, avoid unnecessary tests and procedures and identify better treatments. The Obama administration is betting that $19 billion of the economic stimulus package will spread the concept from coast to coast.
Saver and the nine other physicians in his practice decided to take the plunge 3 1/2 years ago.
Gone are tens of thousands of manila files that filled a big room in their office. Doing away with those has allowed the practice to cut its record-keeping staff from seven to three.
The office eliminated 2 1/2 more positions in the billing department because clerks no longer have to struggle over doctors' handwritten notes.
In the examining room, Jim Culleton -- an 84-year old retiree who cheerfully explained that Saver had saved his life three times -- teased the doctor about his incessant tapping on the laptop.
"I liked it better when he talked into his tape recorder. Now, I don't know what he's saying about me," Culleton said.
"Well, I don't lose your chart anymore," Saver countered. "And I don't throw my back out hauling around your file." The laptop also allows Saver to quickly check lab results -- in Culleton's case alleviating concerns about a possible infection, something that could be deadly for the recent heart attack victim.
And costly tests aren't repeated because a lab result is lost or an image is misplaced, Saver said.
