• An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users.
• While an EHR does contain the medical and treatment histories of patients; clinical data collected in a provider’s office and can be inclusive of a broader view of a patient’s care. EHRs are a vital part of health IT and can:
• Contain a patient’s medical history, diagnosis, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and laboratory and test results
• Allow access to evidence-based tools that providers can use to make decisions about a patient’s care
• Automate and streamline provider workflow
• One of the key features of an EHR is that health information can be created and managed by authorized providers in a digital format capable of being shared with other providers across more than one healthcare organization. EHRs are built to share information with other healthcare providers and organizations – such as laboratories, specialists, medical imaging facilities, pharmacies, emergency facilities, and school and workplace clinics – so they contain information from all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.
