The American Academy of Family Physicians is about to give its members help in finding the right technology for their practices. In the process, it may boost adoption of electronic medical records among its members, said David Kibbe, MD, director of the AAFP's Center for Health Information technology.

The organization is nearing completion of a new Web site that will help physicians assess IT products and services, said Kibbe.

The site is slated for launch at the end of September and will include structural reviews of products, and an opportunity for doctors rate the reviews, similar to the book review process on Amazon.com, he said.

"We think that's extremely important," Kibbe said. Doctors are eager to learn about the experiences that "physicians like me and practices like mine" are having in rolling out new technology.

The reviews will be available on a members-only basis initially and perhaps made accessible to nonmembers for a fee. The details have not yet been completed, Kibbe said.

The American Academy of Family Physicians is one of the largest national medical organizations, representing more than 94,300 family physicians, family practice residents and medical students nationwide.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, HIMSS, provides a similar product review service on a subscription basis - $149 a year or $49 for a one-time, eight-hour session. The service, called Ambulatory EMR Selector, lists products from 25 vendors. The Ambulatory EMR Selector was developed by Caroline Samuels, MD, and has been licensed from CSMed, LLC.