Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) are a modern way of collecting a patient’s data in a digital form; while both have many similarities, there are significant differences between them. EMR is a digital version of the patient’s charts and data from one practice that doctors can access online. In contrast, EHR has data from many clinicians and contains general health information, allowing for a better grasp of the patient’s overall physical and mental condition (Heart, Ben-Assuli, & Shabtai, 2017). It is a considerable benefit over EMR: information contains data from many doctors, allowing a medical professional to learn about the patient’s background and alignments to prevent illness or predict it (Heart et al., 2017). The EHR is shared by various medical faculties and healthcare providers when the patient comes there, therefore letting the person avoid an unnecessary repeat of medical tests that the patient had already done.
Both forms have the benefit of being digital, and therefore can be restored if the paper version is lost or destroyed, but they also suffer from the security breach risk. If the medical organization lacks a proper way to protect its patients’ data, it can be leaked online. Because both EMR and EHR depend on servers, databases, and the use of online services, a misuse of the software or hardware can lead to damage, mistakes, or even destruction of the data (Heart et al., 2017). It requires a knowledgeable user who can use the system in an experienced way to collect and preserve it. Therefore, medical healthcare providers must build a robust security system and have reliable technical support resources to protect the data.
Reference
Heart, T., Ben-Assuli, O., & Shabtai, I. (2017). A review of PHR, EMR and EHR integration: A more personalized healthcare and public health policy. Health Policy and Technology, 6(1), 20-25.