In a world of technology, the computer seems to be the answer to all our problems saving us a lot of time we would have otherwise wasted by looking for those answers somewhere else.

More and more fields have begun to rely on the Internet, boosting their efficiency. Why the medical field wouldn’t do the same, many health care physicians have asked themselves. Adopting electronic health records systems would have saved them a lot of time, would have boost their efficiency in searching different treatments for their patients and the list of benefits could go on and on.

However, when they began adopting this system, many health care providers encountered a major problem: lack of sufficient money to move from paper-based to computerized records, a problem that made them give up this option. That’s why the number of doctors adopting computerized records is significantly low, at least this is what a national survey of 2,758 physicians, appearing in Wednesday’s online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, found.

More exactly, the survey found that only 4 percent of U.S. physicians are now using fully functional electronic systems that allow them to write and send computerized orders, view lab results, keep medical records and provide alerts if a prescription poses a risk of an allergy or adverse drug reaction.

Catherine DesRoches, PhD, a health policy researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and lead author of the survey, said this percentage shows that “adoption is moving along slowly,” although the White House has called for widespread use of electronic health records and other information technology by the end of 2013. The survey clearly shows that if things go on this way, switching to electronic records might not meet its deadline, DesRoches said according to WebMD.

The big surprise of this survey was the fact that the percentage of doctors adopting the electronic system was inversely proportional to the percentage of this system’s benefits.

More exactly, doctors who adopted this system said it improved the quality of clinical decisions (82 percent), it helped in avoiding medical errors (86 percent) and it improved the delivery of preventive care (85 percent). These percentages are “huge” and “very encouraging,” Dr. David L. Brailer, the former health information technology coordinator in the Bush administration said, according to the New York Times.

The survey also found that another 13 percent of physicians have a more basic electronic record system, which allows them to only enter notes and medical histories.

When the survey looked into what was the reason for these very low percentages, it found that “cost of the systems were the most commonly cited reason,” with two thirds of doctors giving this answer. The survey authors estimate that switching to electronic records costs each doctor about $60,000.

Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt announced the launch of a governmental program that would provide $150 million to 12 cities and states to help more doctors set up electronic medical systems over a period of five years. This program is aimed at getting smaller doctors set up electronic medical system.

The survey found electronic records were used in less than 9 percent of small offices with one to three doctors. Nearly half of the country’s doctors practice medicine in these offices. The governmental program will help nearly 1,200 small practices.

The survey also found that doctors with large practices or those in hospitals or medical centers were more likely to have electronic medical record systems.