It’s not as trendy as Twitter or as headline-grabbing as Myspace, but health information technology is getting something that they won’t be getting – a massive infusion of federal cash.

Pushed to the back pages a bit in the attention given to the recently signed federal stimulus legislation (H.R. 1) are the provisions that aim to give a huge push to the adoption of electronic health records (“EHR”) and thereby improve health care quality, prevent medical errors, and reduce health care costs, among many other projected benefits identified in the bill.

The federal push for the adoption of electronic health records is backed up with a projected near-$20 billion in federal funds over the next half-decade, making health IT a likely an area of major growth for technology providers.