In this podcast, Kermit Randa, senior VP of sales and marketing for Surgical Information Systems provides Healthcare Technology Online's editor in chief Ken Congdon with his insights on why specialty EHR platforms, such as perioperative systems, are vital to the health information management efforts of today's hospitals. The podcast addresses key differences between perioperative EHRs and enterprise EHRs and key HIT challenges that require specialization. In response to the question of why are operating room and perioperative services so important to hospitals today, Randa says "The OR, according to HFMA, is about 70% of the revenue of the average hospital, 60% of the margin, and 40% to 60% of the supply costs. Additionally, about half the errors caused in the hospital are done in the operating room. So, when you start to look at what's happening today, the hospitals are in need of radical change."