Clearing the Confusion
If you're shopping for clinical software, you've undoubtedly encountered the acronyms EMR and EHR. Vendors often use them interchangeably, but regulatory bodies and informaticists draw a sharp distinction between the two. Understanding this difference is critical when selecting software for your practice.
What is an EMR (Electronic Medical Record)?
An EMR is essentially a digital version of the traditional paper chart found in a clinician's office. It contains the medical and treatment history of the patients in one practice. EMRs are excellent for tracking data over time and identifying which patients are due for preventive screenings.
However, EMRs have a major limitation: they don't travel easily outside the practice. If a patient leaves your clinic to see a specialist at a different hospital, their EMR data does not follow them. It must be printed out or mailed.
What is an EHR (Electronic Health Record)?
An EHR is designed to be interoperable. EHRs focus on the total health of the patient—going beyond standard clinical data collected in the provider's office and encompassing a broader view on a patient's care. EHRs are built to share information with other health care providers, such as laboratories and specialists, so they contain information from all the clinicians involved in the patient's care.
Because MedEase utilizes HL7 and FHIR standards, it operates as a true EHR, allowing your clinic to securely exchange patient data with external health networks.