Subscribe Log in

Log in

Remember me. [?]
Forgotten password
Not got an account?

Subscribe or register here

Toggle navigation
Student BMJ
Search
  • News & views
    • At a glance >>
    • Life
    • Briefings
    • Research explained
    • Views
    • People
  • Clinical
    • Practical skills
    • Clinical reviews
    • Ethics & law
    • Picture quizzes
    • Junior doctor survival kit
  • Specialties
    • Cardiology
    • Emergency medicine
    • Gastroenterology
    • General practice
    • General Surgery
    • Geriatric medicine
    • Neurology
    • Obstetrics & Gynaecology
    • Paediatrics
    • Psychiatry
    • Radiology
    • Respiratory
  • Careers
    • Career planning
    • A career in...
    • Electives
    • Foundation programme
    • Careers advice
  • Applying to medical school
    • At a glance >>
    • Application timeline
    • Considering medicine
    • Medical School Selector
    • Work experience
    • Personal statement
    • Entrance exams
    • Interviews
    • Plan B
    • Graduate entry medicine
    • Mediprep course
  • Subscribe

Electronic health records

Bishoy Morris explains what the fuss surrounding new electronic records is all about

By: Bishoy Morris

You know that room in your hospital, labelled medical records. Try to pop in one day and capture a mental image of it; there is a good chance that you will never see it again. Those old heaps of manila files enclosing barely legible handwritten medical records may soon give way to a versatile successor: electronic health records (EHRs).

An EHR provides electronically maintained information about an individuals lifetime health status and health care, which replaces or supplements the paper medical record.1 The software, however, is intended to support patient care and reduce cost, time, and errors, rather than just to be a digital copy of an existing paper record.2

The US Institute of Medicine has recently defined eight core functions of an EHR system (box).3 Even an EHR with only these basic functions makes a paper record look primitive, bulky, and inefficient. EHR software programs will be designed to

To read the rest of this article log in or subscribe to Student BMJ.

If you're not ready to subscribe yet you can access News & views for free or register with us to receive free updates on our latest content.

Log in Subscribe
  • Most viewed
  • What's new

Stay in touch

  • Register for email alerts

Contact us

  • Contact us
  • Advertisers and sponsors
  • Media

About Student BMJ

  • About us
  • Join the BMA
  • Subscribe
  • Write for Student BMJ
  • Review articles for Student BMJ
  • The BMJ
  • The Student BMJ scholarship
  • Request permissions
  • Sitemap

Terms and Conditions

  • Website T&Cs
  • Medical School Selector T&Cs
  • Privacy policy

© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2018. All rights reserved.