What’s the difference between EHR and EMR?

electronic health records and security

An Electronic Health Record (EHR) and an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) are both digital tools that store a patient’s medical information. However, they differ in several key ways.

First, while EMRs generally contain the patient’s medical history, treatment plans, and other essential health data, EHRs include much more comprehensive information about the individual’s health. This includes lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise habits; family history; genetic testing results; immunization records; laboratory results; medications taken; allergies and conditions diagnosed by physicians or nurses. An EHR is designed to serve as a complete record of a patient’s health over time—from birth to death—while an EMR typically only focuses on one specific episode of care, such as a hospital stay or office visit.

Second, where an EMR is used internally within one healthcare practice or facility, EHR systems allow for secure access between multiple providers who treat the same patient. This means that if you move from one clinic to another within your local area at any point during your treatment journey all providers would have access to your current medical information via their own secure portal when needed rather than needing documents sent across multiple sites manually – saving time and energy for all involved in the process.

Thirdly and importantly for modern healthcare practices – interoperability ensures that different types of systems can connect with each other so that data can be securely shared between them which allows for valuable insights into trends in population-level healthcare usage over time based on large datasets provided by many connected systems throughout the country allowing policy makers to plan future service needs better but also ensuring high standards of safety due increased ability to track potential adverse events quicker than ever before – something only possible with a connected system like those offered through an effective use of technology in healthcare such as Enterprise Health Records provide.

Overall then while there are some similarities between Electronic Medical Records (EMRs)and Electronic Health Records (EHRs), there are also some important differences which make it clear why it is so important for providers across different settings within today’s modernized healthcare landscape to understand how best take advantage of these ever evolving technological advances to ensure patients receive great care now and into the future.