Emily is a retail, eCommerce and small business expert and writer. Her work helps small business owners find the tools and resources they need to start and manage their brick-and-mortar and online businesses.
Mimi Polner ContributorEmily is a retail, eCommerce and small business expert and writer. Her work helps small business owners find the tools and resources they need to start and manage their brick-and-mortar and online businesses.
Written By Mimi Polner ContributorEmily is a retail, eCommerce and small business expert and writer. Her work helps small business owners find the tools and resources they need to start and manage their brick-and-mortar and online businesses.
Mimi Polner ContributorEmily is a retail, eCommerce and small business expert and writer. Her work helps small business owners find the tools and resources they need to start and manage their brick-and-mortar and online businesses.
Contributor Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Kelly Main Staff ReviewerKelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist c.
Updated: Aug 29, 2022, 7:46pm
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If you’ve visited a doctor recently, chances are that they viewed or input data about your health on a computer screen. That’s because they were likely reading and updating your information on your electronic health record (EHR). In this article, we’ll explain exactly what an EHR is, how it’s different from an electronic medical record (EMR) and the benefits of using them in healthcare settings.
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An EHR is a digitized version of a patient’s medical chart. Examples of the data found in EHRs include:
An EHR system is a software program that allows for EHRs to be securely created, updated and shared across healthcare organizations in real-time.
An EHR and EMR are both digital versions of a patient’s chart. However, EMRs cannot be shared, transferred or accessed as easily across healthcare organizations. EHRs, in contrast, are designed to be shareable with everyone involved in a patient’s care, such as doctors, laboratories and specialists.
EMRs also give a narrower scope when it comes to patient data. An EMR can give you patient demographic, diagnosis, treatment and disease progression data. An EHR contains all of the same information, plus more detailed data regarding a patient’s medical history. EHRs give a much more holistic view of a patient’s history than EMRs.
For more information get the complete breakdown on EHR vs EMR.
Since EHRs centralize and digitize vital healthcare information, the benefits are significant.
At the individual level, using EHRs for each patient at your healthcare practice can:
EHRs also have benefits at the group level. Healthcare facilities that use an EHR system can look at patterns in patients that share the same characteristics, such as patients who take a specific medication or suffer from a particular condition. This allows providers to give stronger insights and care to entire groups of people.
If your healthcare practice is considering getting an EHR system, it’s best to follow these steps to ensure the right decisions are made.
Before searching for an EHR system, consider whether you’re ready to use one, both financially and operationally. Make sure you have a strong business case and the right budget to implement a new system.
Once you’ve decided you’re ready for an EHR, create a plan for how to make that happen. Your roadmap should answer questions like:
There are many robust EHR systems on the market. It’s important to note that you should opt for a certified EHR over a noncertified one. Certified EHRs meet the functionality and security requirements set by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
Check out the best EHR software on the market.
Getting a new system is only half the battle—the other half is making sure all staff are trained and comfortable using it.
Many EHR systems come with training programs, but it’s important to do your due diligence and check to see if the existing programs have:
Going live with a new system is a big deal, so it’s important to have plans and protections in place leading up to it. For example, you should:
After your system goes live, you can compare metrics like patient satisfaction rate, physician satisfaction rate and error rates to what they were previously. Continue to monitor your practice’s performance and make any adjustments necessary based on feedback.
EHRs have made medical records more accessible than ever. Providers can now gain insight into a patient’s treatment information and other critical data easily, which helps patients receive better care more quickly.
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Yes. When a patient has an EHR, that EHR can be viewed by other providers besides the provider who created it. That way, if a patient switches or adds providers for any reason, the new providers can see and better understand their medical history.
Every state has different laws surrounding who owns medical records. Patients are entitled, by law, to the data stored in an EHR but, in many states, the actual EHR itself is owned by the healthcare provider.
EHR software must have certified EHR technology (CEHRT) that stores data in a standardized format. Structured data allows providers to retrieve easily and transfer patient information and use EHRs to improve patient care.
It depends on the practice and systems used. Some practices may store EHR data on local servers on premise. Others may store them on remote servers, which is especially common if they use a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.
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