A Review of Electronic Health Records Systems Around the World

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are digitised versions of the paper charts in clinician offices, clinics and hospitals. The information in an EMR is usually stored locally at a practice or a hospital, and it contains the medical and treatment history of a patient. [1] [2] [3] Electronic Health Records (EHR) focus on the total health of a patient, and are designed to reach out beyond the health organisation. The EHR systematically collate and store digitised data on patients from the different healthcare and medical organisations and providers. They also enable the secure electronic sharing of these data between the different healthcare settings, and in some instances, the patient. The information, which includes the EMR, moves with the patient between different healthcare settings, providing a more holistic view of the state of a patient across time. The EHR can also provide information on population health by aggregating relevant data (permissions providing). Sometimes EHR is also referred to as an Electronic Patient Record (EPR). [1] [2] [3