PCEHR

History, Current Status and Future of Electronic Health Records (& PCEHR)

History, Current Status and Future of Electronic Health Records (& PCEHR)

Introduction

Electronic health information is the electronic data of the patient that contains information about his health. The information is produced during his experience with healthcare settings. The data contains information about problem of patient, his progress, signs and symptoms, medicine, demographics, radiology and laboratory tests reports, immunizations and past history. EHR assists in managing and automating the work of a healthcare provider. It has the capability to produce data of the patient, and supports its different activities relating to healthcare by interface indirectly or directly. EHR further includes the outcome report, support of evidence based decision and quality management (HIMSS 2013).

A personally controlled health record system is an online summary of information regarding the health of patient and it can be controlled by the consumer himself. It helps hospitals, doctors and other different healthcare staff so that they can be able to monitor the health record of the patient. In addition, the record also facilitates the healthcare staff in providing the good quality of care. The electronic health record can aid in giving the control of the health information to the patient and the information can be utilized in a more useful way than before (DHA 2013).

History

The medical information of the patient has always been stored and it was stored on papers initially. In the decade of 1960, the system of medical care became more complicated and advanced. Furthermore, the doctors comprehended that there have been some situations in which the complete history of a patient's health is not accessible to them when needed urgently. The need of the availability of a detailed history of health brought many ideas and innovation in the field of healthcare and it resulted in the electronic conversion of the health record. The developments in the medical care of the patient and new researches assisted in the production of Electronic Health record (Mc graw, Hill, 2011).

The medical centers and hospitals of the cities like Vermont, Rochester and Minnesota were among the initial clinics that started using the system of electronic health records in the decade of 1960. In the following twenty years of the introduction of the system, the electronic health records became more advanced and developed. Different information options and advanced functions were added to the system to assist in improving the health of patients. The information that was available to the doctors and healthcare staff by the electronic health records included the side effects of medicines, appropriate dose of drug to be administered, allergic reactions and interactions of the medicine (Mc graw, et al 2011). The treatment and diagnosis strategies those were helpful for the patient and physicians also became enhanced and developed and they were included in the system of electronic health records. As the time passed by, there was more development in the system and many institutes and academies developed several software and different tools to make the ...