They aren't emailing them, they are faxing them.
This won't raise the cost since they accept faxes.
I can't count how often I've seen doctors offices use Windows 2K or XP Home Edition this year alone. Even saw a doctor use a computer after closing down "does your computer have viruses" IE popups -- and then proceeding to enter my private info into their (probably HIPAA-certified, which, at that point meant squat) patient tracking application.
Just saying that paper is not always necessarily worse than electronic records.
http://mobihealthnews.com/12503/why-doctors-pagers-still-tru...
The only real argument against pagers is that it's another thing to carry around, but in that regard modern pagers are a lot better than dumb-cellphones so pagers still have the advantage (because lets face it, people are still going to want their smartphones).
(Well, that and "they are old, and old is lame", which is not really an argument. ;)
I haven't received (or sent) a fax in 2+ years, and I used to deal with them (multiple times) every day in 2003.
seems i've shown my age.. though i definitely read that, my mind seems conditioned to totally ignore the notion of faxing something. not discounting anything here, but just find it kind of funny. given my perception of fax machines, it could very well have said send notice via telegraph.. that aside, i can see how as a technology it stills has practical applications, especially in the legal field where paper records are heavily relied upon.