FYI:Electronic Medical Record vs. Electronic Health Record: Clarifying the EHR/EMR Difference

FYI


Begin forwarded message:

> Date: January 4, 2011 9:07:04 AM PST
> Subject: Electronic Medical Record vs. Electronic Health Record:
> Clarifying the EHR/EMR Difference
> Source: Health IT Buzz
>
> Whats in a word? Or, even one letter of an acronym?
>
> Some people use the terms electronic medical record and
> electronic health record (or EMR and EHR) interchangeably. But
> here at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health
> Information Technology (ONC), youll notice we use electronic health
> record or EHR almost exclusively. While it may seem a little picky
> at first, the difference between the two terms is actually quite
> significant.The EMR term came along first, and indeed, early EMRs
> were medical. They were for use by clinicians mostly for diagnosis
> and treatment.
>
> In contrast, health relates to The condition of being sound in
> body, mind, or spirit; especiallyfreedom from physical disease or
> painthe general condition of the body. The word health covers a
> lot more territory than the word medical. And EHRs go a lot
> further than EMRs.
>
> Whats the Difference?
>
> Electronic medical records (EMRs) are a digital version of the paper
> charts in the clinicians office. An EMR contains the medical and
> treatment history of the patients in one practice. EMRs have
> advantages over paper records. For example, EMRs allow clinicians to:
>
> Track data over time
> Easily identify which patients are due for preventive screenings or
> checkups
> Check how their patients are doing on certain parameterssuch as
> blood pressure readings or vaccinations
> Monitor and improve overall quality of care within the practice
> But the information in EMRs doesnt travel easily out of the
> practice. In fact, the patients record might even have to be
> printed out and delivered by mail to specialists and other members
> of the care team. In that regard, EMRs are not much better than a
> paper record.
>
> Electronic health records (EHRs) do all those thingsand more. EHRs
> focus on the total health of the patientgoing beyond standard
> clinical data collected in the providers office and inclusive of a
> broader view on a patients care. EHRs are designed to reach out
> beyond the health organization that originally collects and compiles
> the information. They are built to share information with other
> health care providers, such as laboratories and specialists, so they
> contain information from all the clinicians involved in the
> patients care. The National Alliance for Health Information
> Technology stated that EHR data can be created, managed, and
> consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one
> healthcare organization.
>
> The information moves with the patientto the specialist, the
> hospital, the nursing home, the next state or even across the
> country. In comparing the differences between record types, HIMSS
> Analytics stated that, The EHR represents the ability to easily
> share medical information among stakeholders and to have a patients
> information follow him or her through the various modalities of care
> engaged by that individual. EHRs are designed to be accessed by all
> people involved in the patients careincluding the patients
> themselves. Indeed, that is an explicit expectation in the Stage 1
> definition of meaningful use of EHRs.
>
> And that makes all the difference. Because when information is
> shared in a secure way, it becomes more powerful. Health care is a
> team effort, and shared information supports that effort. After all,
> much of the value derived from the health care delivery system
> results from the effective communication of information from one
> party to another and, ultimately, the ability of multiple parties to
> engage in interactive communication of information.
>
> Benefits of EHRs
>
> With fully functional EHRs, all members of the team have ready
> access to the latest information allowing for more coordinated,
> patient-centered care. With EHRs:
>
> The information gathered by the primary care provider tells the
> emergency department clinician about the patients life threatening
> allergy, so that care can be adjusted appropriately, even if the
> patient is unconscious.
> A patient can log on to his own record and see the trend of the lab
> results over the last year, which can help motivate him to take his
> medications and keep up with the lifestyle changes that have
> improved the numbers.
> The lab results run last week are already in the record to tell the
> specialist what she needs to know without running duplicate tests.
> The clinicians notes from the patients hospital stay can help
> inform the discharge instructions and follow-up care and enable the
> patient to move from one care setting to another more smoothly.
> So, yes, the difference between electronic medical records and
> electronic health records is just one word. But in that word there
> is a world of difference.
>
> Was this blog post helpful for you? Please comment below and let us
> know if there are other ways we can help spread the word about the
> EHR/EMR difference.
>
> Read more
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