Electronic medical record and electronic health record adoption is on the rise — 93 percent of American hospitals now use EHRs, up from just 73 percent 10 years ago. Legislation is similarly evolving to meet increased digital demand: New regulations likely to take effect in 2022 will allow patients to download their EHRs onto digital devices, and healthcare facilities must now ensure that any electronic record system meets CMS certified technology guidelines or risk downward payment adjustments.
The result? In an evolving compliance and operational landscape, it’s easy for healthcare organizations to conflate EMR and EHR frameworks because both serve the same basic function. In fact, there are significant differences between these two medical record systems.
What Is an Electronic Medical Record (EMR)?
An electronic medical record is used by one organization to store data about a patient.
Neisa Jenkins, professor at the College of Health Sciences at DeVry University and president of the Georgia Health Information Management Association, defines an EMR as an electronic record that contains information about an individual or specific patient within a single healthcare organization. This information — including health, demographic and financial data — is created and accessed by clinical and nonclinical staff. In practice, this means that EMRs are typically nontransferable between practices.
“An EMR is restricted to a single medical practice,” says Neil Lappage, public sector solutions lead at ITC Secure and adviser for ISACA’s Emerging Technology Advisory Group. “If such information had to be sent to another practice, it would likely be sent in paper form and, depending on the type of practice, the information could contain both clinician notes and diagnostic information.”
What Is an Electronic Health Record (EHR)?
An electronic health record is shared between organizations.
“An EHR is an electronic record that contains information about an individual or specific patient within an enterprise healthcare system that consists of more than one organization,” says Jenkins.
As noted by Lappage, “EHRs contain information about a patient throughout their journey visiting different healthcare practices. They combine both diagnostic information on patients and notes from medical clinicians. EHRs also improve patient-centered care. Due to the speed that results are shared between clinicians, decisions can be made more quickly, and the patient ultimately experiences smoother transition and response times from medical practices.”
EHRs vs. EMRs: What’s the Difference?
While the primary distinction between these two record types is that EHRs are shared among organizations while EMRs are not, Lappage and Jenkins point to other key differentiators, including:
- Interoperability: “An EHR communicates with other systems,” says Jenkins, “which is a concept known as interoperability. EHRs are multifunctional and used for everything from documentation and medication management to clinical decision support, reporting and analytics, and results management.”
- Accessibility: Accessibility is another key difference between EHRs and EMRs. While EHRs are accessible by patients — and will soon be available for digital download — EMRs are not. This availability stems from EHR interoperability, which in turn requires records standardization. As noted by Lappage, “there is now a need for systems to talk in common formats. This is where integration standards such as Health Level 7 (HL7) come in since they use a standardized format to send data.”
- Security: “From a cybersecurity perspective, an EHR is a much more valuable target,” says Lappage, “since it contains the entire journey of a patient as they move between practices. Where the stakes get higher is through the accessibility of such information. Due to the nature of EMRs not being accessible to patients, it also means they are much harder to access by adversaries trying to steal information.” EHRs, meanwhile, offer a tempting target for attackers looking to obtain information-rich healthcare data they can ransom, steal or sell.
DIVE DEEPER: Find out how to improve clinical satisfaction with the EHR.
Which Type of Medical Record Is Right for Your Healthcare Organization?
Both EMRs and EHRs offer value for healthcare organizations. In many cases, both types are used within a single medical practice depending on the nature and purpose of the patient data recorded.
For example, while hospitals and larger health enterprises typically use EHRs to provide a comprehensive view of patient care, they may also opt for EMRs to track specific patient data over time to help create patient-specific health plans. EHRs, meanwhile, are ideal for facilitating data sharing across multiple levels of a healthcare organization — from emergency room doctors and nurses to specialists and management teams — without increasing operational complexity.
For individual practices, EMRs offer the easiest bar for entry into digital data collection. HealthIT.gov puts it simply: “EMRs are digital versions of paper charts.” Digitizing key data makes it easier to store, retrieve and access while simultaneously limiting the amount of duplicated data recorded and reducing the risk of inaccurate data capture. EHRs also offer value for smaller practices that regularly refer patients to specialists or other clinics. The interoperable nature of EHRs can significantly reduce the amount of time and effort required by administrative staff to ensure transferred records are easily accessible.
Bottom line? EHRs and EMRs both offer significant value for healthcare practices. While EMRs focus on single-patient, single-practice data, EHRs are built for interoperability. As a result, finding the right fit is about function rather than form. Both individual practices and multinational health enterprises can benefit from both types under the right circ*mstances.
“Because healthcare is a team effort that is not delivered by a single healthcare professional or practice,” says Lappage, “sharing information about patients between practices in a secure way will ultimately deliver improved outcomes and patient-centered care.”
FAQs
The ability to share complete information instantly is one of the main differences between an EMR and an EHR. An EMR captures information from a single care provider, which is only available to that one care provider. However, EHRs are designed to be used by multiple care providers and healthcare organizations.
What is the primary difference between EMRs and EHRs? ›
Scope: The primary difference lies in the scope of information. EMRs focus on data from a single practice or facility, while EHRs encompass data from multiple sources, offering a more comprehensive view of a patient's health.
What is the difference between EMR and EHR? ›
EHR and EMR, for instance are two terms that are often used interchangeably. Though they're similar, they have different meanings. EHR stands for electronic health records, while EMR stands for electronic medical records. The former has both a broader and deeper scope than EMR.
What is the difference between the EMR and EHR How does this impact patient safety? ›
An Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is very similar to an EHR except for one key difference—EMRs do not share information. An EMR is more of a digital version of a patient's chart. The chart stays within one medical provider's system, and there is more of a barrier to sending it to other healthcare professionals.
What is the difference between the EHR and EMR quizlet? ›
A) EMR contains only legal documents and forms filled out by the patient, and the EHR is the provider progress notes, telephone encounters, lab results, and imaging.
What is an advantage of using EMRs or EHRs over paper records? ›
EMR is faster to use, reduces human errors, allows you to spend more time on your patients instead of on paperwork, and provides a bunch of additional features such as: Document management, allowing your staff to create and store digital copies of the patients' medical records and charts.
What are the three types of EHRs? ›
Care providers and senior living professionals can generate, update, and send resident records in real-time across secure networks. Senior living communities can choose from several types of EHR systems, including cloud-based, physician-hosted, and remotely-hosted EHRs.
Is Epic considered an EMR or EHR? ›
Epic is a cloud-based EHR built for hospitals with the functionality to handle the day-to-day operations of a practice, including patient medical records. An EMR (electronic medical records) system is responsible for medical records alone, Epic medical records are available in the Epic EHR system.
What defines an EMR? ›
(eh-lek-TRAH-nik MEH-dih-kul REH-kurd) An electronic (digital) collection of medical information about a person that is stored on a computer. An electronic medical record includes information about a patient's health history, such as diagnoses, medicines, tests, allergies, immunizations, and treatment plans.
Is EMR Hipaa compliant? ›
Something to keep in mind, however, is that your compliance with HIPAA is entirely your own. For example, your EMR vendor can be HIPAA compliant, but that doesn't mean your practice is. Your practice must enforce its own HIPAA compliance program, in order to be on the safe side.
Disadvantages of Electronic Medical Records
Storing sensitive patient data in the cloud—as many EMRs do—puts the data at risk of being hacked without sufficient layers of security. If a technical error occurs and your remote EMR software does not have the information backed up, all data may be lost.
What EMR do hospitals use? ›
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Different hospitals will use different EMR systems, depending on their needs and preferences. However, some of the most popular EMR systems used in hospitals include Epic, Cerner, and MEDITECH.
What are three benefits to patients and healthcare providers that both EHR and EMRs offer? ›
Securely sharing electronic information with patients and other clinicians. Helping providers more effectively diagnose patients, reduce medical errors, and provide safer care. Improving patient and provider interaction and communication, as well as health care convenience. Enabling safer, more reliable prescribing.
What is the difference between an EMR and an EHR? ›
An EMR captures information from a single care provider, which is only available to that one care provider. However, EHRs are designed to be used by multiple care providers and healthcare organizations.
Which of the following makes EHRs different from EMRs? ›
An EMR stores patient information electronically, while an EHR enables access to the patient's information electronically.
What are the differences between EMRs and EHRs what challenges have they presented for healthcare managers? ›
The main difference between EMRs and EHRs is that EMRs (Electronic medical records) are digital versions of paper charts that clinicians and healthcare workers use at the office, whereas EHRs (Electronic health records) are digital versions of patient charts, but it is a more detailed records of a patient's medical ...
What is the primary difference between electronic medical records and electronic health records? ›
EMRs are comprehensive, but EHRs are specific to a single event or diagnosis. EMRs are given to the patient, but EHRs are held only by medical professionals. EMRs are used within a practice, but EHRs can be shared among medical practices.
What is the most significant difference between EHR EMR software and practice management software? ›
The main difference between an EHR and practice management software is each system's intended purpose. EHR software is intended to manage patient medical data, while a PMS is meant to streamline administrative processes.
What is the key difference between an electronic medical record EMR and a personal health record PHR )? ›
What's the Difference? Whereas an electronic health record (EHR) is a computer record that originates with and is controlled by doctors, a personal health record (PHR) can be generated by physicians, patients, hospitals, pharmacies, and other sources but is controlled by the patient.
Which of the following statements best distinguishes an EMR from an EHR? ›
Explanation: The best statement that distinguishes an EMR from an EHR is choice A, which states that an EMR is a digital version of a patient's chart, while an EHR is a real-time, patient-centered record that makes information available instantly and securely to authorized users.
