The Difference Between EMRs and EHRs

March 3, 2022
12:10 pm

EMR stands for Electronic Medical Record, while EHR stands for Electronic Health Record. While the terms are often used interchangeably, they do have distinct differences. Understanding these differences is critical when selecting a computer system for your hospital or clinic.

An Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is a digital version of a patient’s medical history and clinical documentation within a single healthcare organization. It contains information such as medical notes, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, laboratory results, and imaging reports. EMRs are primarily used by healthcare providers for documenting and managing patient care within their specific practice or healthcare facility.

On the other hand, an Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a broader, more comprehensive electronic record that includes the patient’s medical information from multiple healthcare providers, facilities, and organizations. EHRs are designed to be shared across different healthcare settings, allowing authorized healthcare professionals to access and exchange patient information seamlessly. EHRs provide a more holistic view of a patient’s health, including medical history, diagnoses, medications, allergies, immunization records, lab results, and more.

.	Electronic Medical Record (EMR)	Electronic Health Record (EHR)
Ownership & Control	Organisation. The EMR is the system of record for clinical information within the organisation that procured and deployed the EMR system.	Patient. The EHR ‘moves with the patient’. The patient could (in theory) move their data between different EHR systems.
Focus	Episodic care. EMRs contain past episodes and some non-episodic information (e.g., allergies and family history), but the focus is on the current episode (i.e. the focus is on ‘treating the disease’).	Longitudinal care. The focus is on longer-term health outcomes and coordinated, patient-centred care (i.e., the focus is on ‘treating the patient’).
Data Granularity	Very detailed. The EMR replaces paper notes and is used to record very detailed information for each episode of care.	Curated and summarised. Contains a curated summary of each episode of care, limited to what is relevant to the patient’s ongoing care or long-term health.
Data Type	Medical. Information is limited to that collected and required by doctors, nurses and allied health personnel.	Health. In addition to medical data, EHRs also contain information from community care, nursing homes, pharmacies, complementary and alternative care providers, and the patient.
Data Source	One Organisation. Only staff working within the organisation can add information to the EMR.	All Organisations. Anyone involved in a patient’s care can enter information into the EHR.
Provider Access	Only providers within the organisation. EMRs are only accessed by clinicians credentialed to work within and organisation and data is usually not exposed to the Internet beyond basic ‘portals.	All providers. Subject to appropriate privacy and security safeguards, all healthcare providers can access the EHR, which are designed to work over the Internet.
Patient Access	Read-Only. Organisations may give patients limited access to their EMR record through a ‘patient portal’.	Full Control. Patients typically have full access to their EHR, including the ability to add and update information.