EHR vs EMR: What’s the Difference?
Medical terms can be confusing, even when you can pronounce them. Case in point: electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic medical records (EMRs). At first glance, they may appear to be essentially the same thing. In fact, many healthcare practitioners and their staff often use these terms interchangeably. But, while both are an electronic version of a patient’s medical records, there are significant differences between the two.
Let’s take a closer look at EHRs vs EMRs, and the differences and similarities between them.
What are electronic medical records?
Electronic medical records, or EMRs, are a digital version of a patient’s medical chart and are maintained solely in the healthcare practitioner’s office. Starting in 2014, all public and private healthcare providers who relied on Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements were required to adopt EMRs as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (2)
This mandate came after studies showed that the inability to access clinical data (kept in handwritten medical patient charts) was one of the most common causes of preventable death among patients. (4)
Compared to paper records, EMRs boast several benefits, including:
- Allowing clinicians to easily identify when a patient is due for a checkup or screening (3)
- Improving privacy and security of patient data compared to paper records (17)
- Keeping track of a patient’s specific parameters, such as blood pressure readings (3)
- Monitoring and improving overall quality of care within the practice (3)()