2016-03-12

What's in a name: digital health records?


The acronyms “EHR,” “EMR” and “CIS” are used differently by different vendors, organizations and countries at different times. Canada Health Infoway promotes distinctions that are fairly well adopted in Canada and Alberta. These are adapted to Alberta’s present context:

EHR
Electronic Health Record
Longitudinal collection of personal health information supporting multiple health service providers across the continuum of care with appropriate information securely delivered to authorized individuals.
EMR
Electronic Medical Record
Record of health services and related information maintained by health care providers in an electronic system for access and use by the providers.
CIS
Clinical Information System
Integrated information management platform supporting the collection, access, use and sharing of information supporting the delivery of health services to persons and populations in multiple settings across the continuum of care.