Abstract

Current Roles and Applications of Electronic Health Record in the Healthcare System

Electronic health record (EHR) has been shown to play major roles in the healthcare system. The main drivers for the increasing role and application of EHR in healthcare systems include the need to improve efficiency in healthcare service delivery, patient safety, increase access to health care services, and more importantly, the need to reduce the costs of medical expenditures. The main goal of this paper was to review current trends in the roles and applications of EHR in the healthcare system. EHR has been very useful in various ways in the healthcare system ranging from clinical care application to administrative function to clinical research function, to financial application, and reporting in the healthcare system. EHR is not just a digital form of a paper medical record, but it provides the following clinical functions: physician order entry, integrated view of patient information and data, access to knowledge resources, clinical decision supports, and integrated communication.

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