Information is critical is health care for decision making.

Health care decisions require accurate

data, timely access to it and the ability to share the data for the continuiation of care and decision

making. A single patient may have multiple paper health records at hospitals, clinics, physician

offices and their own person records as well. This type of information is difficult to share,

difficult to interpret and is only accessible by one person at a time. The electronic health record

is an important advance to change health care, improve efficiencies, decrease duplicating

information and decrease safety risks for patients. A definition of the Electronic health record is

The Her has been slow to develop in Canada and around the world when similar technology is

being used in banks where money can be withdrawn at a automatic teller machine around the

world and the airline industry sends boarding passes to portable hand held communication

devices.

The basic–generic definition for the EHR is a repository of information regarding the health status of a subject

of care, in computer processable form.(

http://www.cihi.ca/cihiweb/en/downloads/ISO_DTR_20514_July29_2004.pdf) page 14. Although in the current

health care sector there are often discussions about the EHR the value add of the EHR was recognized by Roy

Romanow in 1998 in the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada.

Recommendation 9 – Canada Health Infoway should continue to take the lead on this initiative

and be responsible for developing a pan-Canadian electronic health record framework built upon

provincial systems, including ensuring the interoperability of current electronic health

information systems and addressing issues such as security standards and harmonizing privacy

policies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanow_Report June 10, 2008. In the United States, , in

2004, Pres George W. Bush set a target for the development of an electronic health record for

every American by the year 2014. The timeline was aggressive and forced industry work to
develop tools and technology to meet this demand. Christina Beach Thielst. Journal of

Healthcare Management. Chicago: Jan/Feb 2007. Vol. 52, Iss. 1; pg. 7, 3 pgs

The benefits of the health records are starting to be realized in a variety of health care

organizations. The ability to access data about patients during Hurricane Kartrina in 200___ at

the New Orleans Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center;made headlines as the records of

50 000 were available 24hrs later although the physical building was destroyed. Back up tapes

were flown to Texas and the data was available and posted to secure portals to provide seamless

care where possible.

The EHR also provides the ability to view the entire health record by multiple care providers. An

example of an inclusive health record is the Electronic Child Health Network (eCHN), a

government funded, non profit organization that provides access to authorized health care

providers access the health care information of paediatric patients to create a comprehensive

medical record. This record can be viewed by multiple care providers in a variety of cities, and

care providers can be alerted when new results are available as a support tool for care delivery.

http://www.echn.ca/ June 10, 2008.

Knowledge based decision making tools can also be inbedded in the EHR. For example at the

Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie, when a patient is receiving Chemo Therapy and requires

frequent blood work the complete laboratory history is viewable in the EMR and colour

indicators distinctly mark slightly and severely abnormal values. In addition, the normal values

and any lab processing comments are also viewable while looking at the results. Finally, trending

is part of the functionality and this can be trended with other values such as vital signs.