I am in the process of converting my site with many static html pages to a site driven by a database. My problem is that I don\'t want to lose what google has already indexe
I would recommend you to look into the Apache URL Rewriting Guide, it contains extensive information about rewriting with examples.
If I understand you correctly, you should be able to use something like this
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond $1
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php/?page=$1 [L]
Which is very similar code to the one you posted. If you want better information, be specific about your problem.