Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications in Child Health (Health ...

Chapter 18
Electronic Health Records and Interoperability
for Pediatric Care
George R. Kim and Christoph U. Lehmann
Objectives
To state working definitions for electronic health records (EHRs), electronic
health record systems (EHR-S) and interoperability
To provide a brief overview of current efforts to define pediatric health data
needs to guide EHR and EHR-S development
To provide linkages to current information resources on pediatric EHRs
18.1 Introduction
Electronic health records (EHRs) are a central structure in the improvement of the
quality and safety of medical care. Set as a national goal for 2014, 1 universal adoption
of EHRs has been cited as a chief pathway by which medical errors can be
reduced and costs saved.
18.2 Definitions
18.2.1 Electronic Health Records (EHR)
An EHR, in its “basic generic” form, is defined as “a repository of information
regarding the health status of a subject of care [a patient], in computer processable
form.” Historical, regional and contextual variants which refer to the same or
related concepts include:
Electronic medical record (EMR), used in North America and Japan, to include
patient-focused clinical information (from ONE functional medical unit, such as
a hospital, clinical department) 2 EMR is described as interchangeable with EHR
(but is regarded as an outdated term by many)
C.U. Lehmann et al. (eds.), Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications 257
in Child Health, Health Informatics,
© Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009