Some leaders of the health information technology movement are describing the current period as a timeout in the push for electronic health records and other elements of a paperless health care system.

"We are at a point where we have run out of adrenaline," said Scott Wallace, president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Health IT, speaking at the organization's annual meeting in Washington. Wallace called for health IT advocates to focus their energy on a few areas in which policy and operational changes can make a difference.