There is a lot of confusion about the difference between Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and Electronic Health Records (EHRs). In fact, the EMRs and the EHRs are many at times used interchangeably because many people think that they refer to the same thing.
EMRs are paper charts that are in digitalized in clinics, hospitals, as well as clinician offices. EMRs contain data and notes that are collected by the clinicians in their particular offices, hospitals, or clinics (Park, 2011). They are further used by the individual providers of that treatment and diagnosis. On the other hand, EHRs go further than the standard clinical data that is collected by respective treatment providers. They are also inclusive of a broader view of the care of the patient. The EHRs contain all the bulk of data involved in a patient’s care; including all the authorized clinicians that can access the patient’s information.
Moreover, the EMRs main function is to be more valuable than the paper records since they allow the providers to access easily and track information over a period, easily identifies patients for screenings and preventive visits, improve the quality of health care, and monitor patients. On the other hand, EHRs main function is to share the valuable information with other involved health providers, such as specialists and laboratories (Zerwekh & Garneau, (2014). EHRs follow a particular patient to their specialists, hospital, the nursing home, and even across the country.
Another difference between these two confusing systems is that EMRs are majorly used by the providers of the diagnosis and treatment, whereas the EHRs are usually designed to effectively share the data of the patients with authorized staff and providers only from more than one entity.
Furthermore, EMRs are not supposed to be shared by other people or entity outside the individual practice. However, EHRs are different because they allow the patient’s health care data to move from laboratories to a specialist, to emergency rooms, and imaging facilities, as well as across the borders of the state.
Finally, EMRs ensures that the medical information of a patient is secured by making it difficult for unauthorized entities to access them. However, the information in EHRs is vulnerable to be accessed by unauthorized people.
References
Park, H. (2011). Pervasive Healthcare Computing: EMR/EHR, Wireless and Health Monitoring. Health Inform Res, 17(1), 89. doi:10.4258/hir.2011.17.1.89
Zerwekh, J. A., & Garneau, A. Z. (2014). Nursing today: Transition and trends.
