The attention the healthcare industry now faces with regard to improving quality, safety and efficiency – and lowering costs in the process – has made the adoption of electronic health records a cornerstone of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). Incentives are promised for organizations that demonstrate meaningful use of these systems, while penalties loom for noncompliance.

Why EHR/EMR? Electronic Health Records or Electronic Medical Records is the collection of electronic records of health-related information on an individual, which is created and gathered cumulatively across more than one health care organization.  It is managed, consulted and shared by licensed clinicians and staff involved in the individual’s health and care.

In daily operations, EHR improves the quality of service health centers provide their clients by streamlining charting practices, electronically adding information to searchable database records that prevent the potential hazards of handwritten paper files, improving patient safety, and alerting providers to critical information, in real time.