These days, Dr. Patricia Czapp can learn instantly if one of her patients is admitted to the emergency room at Anne Arundel Medical Center.

And in those cases, the ER doctors can access the patient's medical history and medications online through "Alec," the hospital's electronic medical records system.

Unlike a paper record system, this process allows the staff to streamline records and be more efficient, Czapp said.

"When you have to process on a paper record, everything you do revolves around the paper record," said Czapp, a community-practice representative at the hospital. "You have...