Electronic Medical Record (EMR)

Also known as EHRs (electronic health records), EMRs contain patient medical history information accessed by healthcare providers. This information includes tests, diagnoses, prescriptions, care plans, and more. EMRs have replaced traditional paper medical records, providing a more efficient, convenient, and secure means of accessing and transferring vital patient data.

EMRs are used to facilitate clinical workflows supporting improved care. Timely access to EMR information plays an important role in diagnosis and the creation of treatment plans. This centralized medical record system also helps avoid medical errors and medication conflicts, while providing medication alerts and improving awareness of patient safety issues.

The benefits of EMRs include advantages for both clinicians and patients. Clinicians have fast, streamlined workflows, enabling them to gain quick access to patient data, whether they’re on-premises or remote. They also have the ability to easily update records with new information. EMRs also foster improved information sharing among providers, which enhances care coordination, especially when treatment plans and conditions can change.

In addition, EMRs support enhanced patient participation in their care. Patient rights legislation has provided patients with greater care transparency, including the right to securely access EMR data. This accessibility enhances patients’ engagement in their care, enabling them to take a more proactive approach to their treatment, which in turn supports better outcomes.

As protecting PHI (patient health information) contained in EMRs is vital to care quality, patient privacy intelligence applications help safeguard this information. That’s especially important, as patient information is a prime target for cybercriminals, due to its highly sensitive nature. Because electronic health records are meant to be interoperable between healthcare systems, the threat of cyber–attacks is always present – meaning organizations must be prepared to safeguard data in a multitude of ways, including identity access management, to protect patient privacy.