EMR Definition

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EMR/EHR differentiation

Pat Wise at Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, said that EMRs are what currently exist in most practices that have adopted electronic record, but that EHRs "are what the nation aspires to and what President Bush calls for." An EHR includes a personal health record - which includes information such as symptoms or disease management data inputted by the patient - as well as an EMR or an EMR summary, according to Wise. She noted that while an EHR may not contain all the health care information collected over a lifetime, it can contain pointers to where additional information can be found, Modern Healthcare reports.

The electronic medical record is used soley by the provider (physician, clinic, hospital) that creates the record. It becomes an electronic health record when:

1. reports and histories (labs, pharmacy, radiology, consults, etc) are electronically added;

2. items in the record are electronically exchanged with other providers, and

3. there is a personal health record (PHR/PMR) component which allows patients to participate in documenting and creating their medical history and communicate with their provider.

In October 2005 Healthcare Informatics provided a simple overview of the difference:

"EMRs are computerized legal clinical records created in Care Delivery Organizatons (CDOs), such as hospitals and physician offices. EHRs represent the ability to easily share medical information among stakeholders and to allow it to follow the patient through various modalities of care from different CDOs."

For more EMRs and EHRs visit Christina's Considerations and OmniMD. For specialty EMR please visit ICANotes Psychiatry and Behavioral Health EHR