Abstract
The move to a digital health service may improve some components of health systems: information, communication and documentation of care. This article gives a brief definition and history of what is meant by an electronic health record (EHR). There is some evidence of benefits in a number of areas, including legibility, accuracy and the secondary use of information, but there is a need for further research, which may need to use different methodologies to analyse the impact an EHR has on patients, professionals and providers.
Highlights
Declaration of interest J.R. has received sponsorship to attend conferences from pharmaceutical and publishing companies
The vision of digitally enabled health services is built on the use of information, its documentation and subsequent communication; an individual electronic health record (EHR) is a prerequisite to this vision
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) standards are being implemented within the health service and a number of professional bodies have used them as a basis for profession-specific documents, such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Mental Heath Discharge Summary (MHDS).[8]
Summary
The vision of digitally enabled health services is built on the use of information, its documentation and subsequent communication; an individual electronic health record (EHR) is a prerequisite to this vision. The AoMRC standards are being implemented within the health service and a number of professional bodies have used them as a basis for profession-specific documents, such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Mental Heath Discharge Summary (MHDS).[8] The MHDS has been found to be a useful set of standards.[9]. The use of coded information enables specific, anonymous parts of the record for secondary use, for example health research and the revalidation of health professionals
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