An Electronic Health Records

Just the Basics

An electronic health record (EHR) contains patient health information, such as:

• Patient demographics
• Progress notes
• Vital signs
• Medical histories
• Diagnoses
• Medications
• Immunization dates
• Allergies
• Radiology images
• Administrative and billing data
• Lab and test results

An EHR is more than just a digital copy of a regular old paper chart in a doctor’s office. It’s a legal record that can provide comprehensive health information about any patient. EMR systems are built to share information with other health care providers and organizations – such as laboratories, specialists, medical imaging facilities, pharmacies, emergency facilities, and school and workplace clinics – so they contain information from all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.