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In an increasingly paperless age when everything from college applications to tax returns may be completed via computer, doctors are lagging behind.

Despite evidence that suggests electronic health records improve quality and cut down on medical errors, only 15 to 20 percent of local doctors are computerized, the Pima County Medical Society says.

The local society will address the issue at its next meeting Jan. 13 in a session titled, “What’s in it for you — when medicine goes high tech.”

A typical Tucson patient will have records in multiple locations. They may have electronic records at one doctor or a hospital but paper records at another office.

And there’s very little interfacing of records, so information on the patient’s drug allergies, past tests, current medications and other medical history is typically not available — at least not immediately — to emergency room physicians.

While many doctors and medical experts tout the benefits of electronic records, the barriers to adopting them — time and money — are high.