What is an EMR – Electronic Medical Record?
An EMR, or electronic medical record, is a medical record for a patient in a digital format that is stored on a computer or in a computer server. In health informatics, an EMR is considered by some to be one of the different forms of electronic health records, but usually these two terms mean the same thing. Sometimes EMR’s include other information, such as HIT, or health information technology, which are systems that keep track of medical information, like medical practice management systems. These systems support the electronic medical records. Until 2006, most medical practices still do not use EMR’s or other health information technologies, like computer physician order entry systems, or CPOE’s. In fact, less than 10% of the American hospitals have begun to use this technology, while only 16% of primary care physicians now use electronic health records. The majority of medical transactions in the US are still done on paper, with a system that was developed in the 1950’s and is sti
