Electronic health records

An electronic health record (EHR), or electronic medical record (EMR), refers to the systematized collection of patient and population electronically-stored health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared through network-connected, enterprise-wide information systems or other information networks and exchanges. EHRs may include a range of data, including demographics, medical history, medication and allergies, immunization status, laboratory test results, radiology images, vital signs, personal statistics like age and weight, and billing information.

EHR systems are designed to store data accurately and to capture the state of a patient across time. It eliminates the need to track down a patient's previous paper medical records and assists in ensuring data is accurate and legible. It can reduce risk of data replication as there is only one modifiable file, which means the file is more likely up to date, and decreases risk of lost paperwork. Due to the digital information being searchable and in a single file, EMR's are more effective when extracting medical data for the examination of possible trends and long term changes in a patient. Population-based studies of medical records may also be facilitated by the widespread adoption of EHR's and EMR's.

The terms EHR, electronic patient record (EPR) and EMR have often been used interchangeably, although differences between the models are now being defined. The electronic health record (EHR) is an evolving concept defined as a more longitudinal collection of the electronic health information of individual patients or populations. (See reference 1.) The EMR is, in contrast, defined as the patient record created by providers for specific encounters in hospitals and ambulatory environments, and which can serve as a data source for an EHR.

In contrast, a personal health record (PHR) is an electronic application for recording personal medical data that the individual patient controls and may make available to health providers.

Federal and state governments, insurance companies and other large medical institutions are heavily promoting the adoption of electronic medical records. The US Congress included a formula of both incentives (up to $44,000 per physician under Medicare, or up to $65,000 over six years under Medicaid) and penalties (i.e. decreased Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to doctors who fail to use EMRs by 2015, for covered patients) for EMR/EHR adoption versus continued use of paper records as part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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