Persecution complex: I am getting one over electronic patient records!

Abstract

The electronic patient record (EPR) is a core organisational document in which integrated health and social care records and secondary care processes can be stored. EPR was the brain child of the NHS’ National Programme for Information Technology, under the Blair government. 1 Since then, attempts have been made to install EPR in secondary care – a typical example being the installation of specialist imaging systems in hospital trusts. 2 The primary aim of EPR was to make the NHS services efficient via digitised patient records that could be viewed, discussed and transferred electronically between clinicians and/or trusts. 1 , 3 Other anticipated uses of EPR were to provide easy patient access to services such as e-referrals and e-prescriptions, as well as appointment systems. 3 , 4 Here, we discuss EPR and information technology in plain language, and assess the impact of EPR on NHS secondary care orthodontic services.