N.Y. Times: "Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said the chaos wreaked by Katrina ‘powerfully demonstrated the need for electronic health records.’" It shouldn’t take a disaster for people to realize that the cost of dealing with paper is too high; making key information digital should be a priority of most businesses. Sadly, most will wait for a disaster to prioritize.
P.S. If you want a better practice, start using the 80/20 Principle.