With an increasing switch from paper to digital records, IT solutions within the healthcare realm are quickly working to make patient data accessible to the authorized users who need it. As a result, medical practices working with today’s healthcare IT services have newer ways to store and share electronic medical and health records.
Although many providers commonly think they are the same thing, there are actually a number of important differences between EMR and EHR that should be understood, especially with regard to your company’s managed IT services.
What Are EMRs?
Electronic medical records or EMRs are a patient’s medical records generated within one provider’s practice. They are the patient files produced at that practice and managed under the practice’s individual healthcare IT services. EMRs typically contain detailed information about the patient’s diagnosis and treatment, doctor notes, and other specific and personal patient information.
EMRs used within a provider’s privately managed IT services allow for better patient data tracking, let providers make reminders for important preventive care and screenings, and help providers improve the overall quality of care for patients. Since they are the most detailed patient records, EMRs are also the most valuable to both patient and provider.
What Are EHRs?
Electronic health records or EHRs represent a patient’s collective medical records generated at multiple practices, not just with one provider. These records are a part of wider healthcare IT solutions and designed to provide important patient data where it may be needed outside of individual medical practices.
This information is designed to be accessed by authorized medical practices, specialists, hospitals, laboratories and more through a wider system as opposed to the managed IT services that works with each individual practice.
EHRs contain the overall data related to ongoing patient health and treatment. They give all those with access a broader overall understanding of patient healthcare for important decision making.
What Are the Differences Between the Two?
Although both EMRs and EHRs are digital patient records, they do contain different information and each is designed for a different use. Many practitioners call all records EMRs part of healthcare IT services, which is incorrect since there are distinct differences between the two. It is essential to understand these differences to ensure both are properly used and security compliant by using the right managed IT services.
EHRs are information designed to be accessed by various medical practices and authorized organizations to understand diagnoses, treatment, and continuous patient care through the patient’s history. As such, they include procedural information but no details like doctor’s notes. While EHRs can tell other providers the tests and treatments a patient has had, they do not have access to more private, in-practice data between patients and their individual healthcare providers.
Both EHR and EMR records are managed with different healthcare IT solutions, each of which must comply with current privacy and security requirements.
Do The Differences Between EMRs and EHRs Affect Your Practice?
The differences between EMRs and EHRs definitely affect every medical provider's practice. This is why it is so important to understand what data must be privately secured within your organization by using qualified managed IT services and what data can be shared over more global healthcare IT services.
Although they are similar and both contain patient data, EMRs are your private patient records that must be kept private using the right healthcare IT solutions, while EHRs are designed for sharing with other organizations. Some services may still request EMRs to get a more detailed look at a patient’s history. Overall, EHRs are the starting point to help multiple providers get a general overview of a patient!
