Electronic Health Records

- Overview 

An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient's paper chart, designed to be patient-centered and shareable among authorized users in real-time. 

Key benefits include improved patient care through instant access to medical history, diagnoses, medications, and lab results, as well as enhanced safety and efficiency through features like evidence-based decision support and automated workflows. 

EHRs enable both patients and multiple providers to access and manage a comprehensive health history, though there are different EHR systems available. 

1. Benefits of EHRs:

• Improved patient care: Provides a clear overview of a patient's complete medical history, helping providers make better decisions and reducing medical errors. 
• Enhanced safety: Safely stores clinical notes and provides a thorough list of allergies and medications, preventing harmful drug interactions. 
• Greater efficiency: Automates and streamlines provider workflows, and makes viewing lab and imaging results easier. 
• Better patient engagement: Allows patients to securely access their own records, enabling them to participate more actively in their own healthcare. 
• Comprehensive information: Contains a wide range of information, including medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and lab test results. 

2. Key features and functionality:

• Real-time, patient-centered data: Information is available instantly and securely to authorized users. 
• Shareable information: EHRs are built to share information across different healthcare organizations, such as laboratories, specialists, pharmacies, and emergency facilities. 
• Evidence-based tools: Provides providers with tools to help make decisions about patient care. 
• Workflow automation: Automates and streamlines tasks for healthcare providers. 

3. A national database of medical records:

• Potential for a national database: The infrastructure exists for a national database of medical records, which would provide even more comprehensive information to providers.