Change my gas fire place from pilot/knob to flipping a switch?

I have a gas fire place that's about 12 years old. It's lit like a water heater where there's a knob for the gas that you push in to light the pilot and then turn to ignite the fire. It's very close to the fire and i have to use a pot holder to turn it off. A friend of mine said with certain parts the fireplace could be upgraded to the kind that turns on with the flip of a switch (self igniting... saving money on gas always running to the pilot). Could someone point me to some doentation on what parts are needed for the upgrade? Thanks.