Glossary
Electronic Health Record (EHR), also known as Electronic Medical Record (EMR), is a digital version of a patient's paper chart. It is a systematic collection of electronic health information about individual patients or populations. The record is designed to go beyond standard clinical data collected in a provider's office and can be inclusive of a broader view of a patient's care.
EHRs are patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. They contain information about a patient's medical history, including diagnoses, medications, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and laboratory and test results. They can also include other relevant information about the patient such as demographics, personal statistics like age and weight, and billing information. The use of EHRs is becoming increasingly common as the healthcare industry continues to digitize. The benefits of EHRs are numerous and significant. They improve the ability to diagnose diseases and reduce—even prevent—medical errors, improving patient outcomes. EHRs can make health care more efficient and less expensive, as well as improve patient participation and the patient-provider relationship.
EHRs are designed to be accessed by all people involved in the patient's care including the patients themselves. Indeed, this is an important feature that separates EHRs from traditional, provider-centric versions of medical records. This accessibility allows providers to make more informed decisions about a patient's care and eliminates the need for patients to lug around stacks of medical records every time they see a new provider. The ability to exchange health information electronically can help you provide higher quality and safer care for patients while creating tangible enhancements for your organization.
EHRs help providers better manage care for patients and provide better health care by providing accurate, up-to-date, and complete information about patients at the point of care; enabling quick access to patient records for more coordinated, efficient care; securely sharing electronic information with patients and other clinicians; helping providers more effectively diagnose patients, reduce medical errors, and provide safer care; improving patient and provider interaction and communication, as well as health care convenience; enabling safer, more reliable prescribing; helping promote legible, complete documentation and accurate, streamlined coding and billing; enhancing privacy and security of patient data; helping providers improve productivity and work-life balance; enabling providers to improve efficiency and meet their business goals; and reducing costs through decreased paperwork, improved safety, reduced duplication of testing, and improved health.EHRs are also designed to share information with other healthcare providers, such as laboratories and specialists, so they contain information from all the clinicians involved in the patient's care. The EHR can also link to relevant sources of health information and evidence that can assist healthcare providers as they make decisions about a patient's care.
EHRs are a vital part of health IT and can be used to support other care-related activities directly or indirectly through various interfaces, including evidence-based decision support, quality management, and outcomes reporting. EHRs are being adopted in many countries and their use is encouraged by governments, who often provide financial incentives for their use to improve health care delivery.
In conclusion, Electronic Health Records represent a significant change in the way that health care is delivered and documented. They have the potential to improve the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, quality, and safety of medical care delivery. However, they also present challenges in terms of ensuring privacy and security of patient data, as well as ensuring that the technology is used effectively and appropriately. Despite these challenges, the use of EHRs is likely to continue to grow in the coming years, driven by the potential benefits they offer to patients, providers, and the healthcare system as a whole.