Complete and accurate patient information
With electronic health records, providers have more accurate and complete information about their patients, enabling them to provide the best possible care. Providers will know more about their patients and their health history before they walk into the examination room.
Better access to health information
Electronic health records facilitate greater access to health information. Providers can diagnose health problems earlier and improve the health outcomes of their patients. Electronic health records also allow information to be shared securely and more easily among doctors’ offices, hospitals, and across health systems, making for better coordination of care.
Patient empowerment
Electronic health records will help empower patients to take a more active role in their health and in the health of their families. Patients can receive electronic copies of their medical records and share their health information securely over the Internet with their families.
On a broader scale, electronic health information exchange will improve tracking of public health trends such as flu epidemics, health disparities, and gaps in health care. These data that are captured, analyzed, and shared will help us understand which interventions lead to better health outcomes and which areas need significant improvement.
Nearly 200,000 providers have already adopted EHRs and are using them at various levels of technological sophistication and ability. With the support of the President, I have pledged to help the rest of America’s clinicians and hospitals join their ranks. I am confident that the majority of adopters will agree that electronic health records have increased efficiencies and improved care.
I encourage health care providers to become a part of the future by becoming a meaningful user of certified electronic health records.
David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P.
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services