Article - June 9, 2008 - American Medical News
Group issues final definitions for health IT terminology
Industry experts hope a uniform vocabulary will encourage technology adoption by ending confusion over contracts and legislation.
By Dave Hansen
Washington -- EHR, EMR, PHR -- what's the difference? Any physician pondering the purchase of health information technology could well ask that question. Now a national organization working for the government has come up with the answer.
The National Alliance for Health Information Technology, a nonprofit organization focused on how health IT can improve outcomes, on May 20 announced uniform definitions for electronic health record, electronic medical record, personal health record, health information exchange and regional health information. These terms are the building blocks of the health IT infrastructure necessary for doctors, hospitals and others to use and to confidentially share patient-focused electronic health information, the alliance states in the April 28 report presenting its final definitions. But the terms meant different things to different people. For example, NAHIT found 63 definitions of electronic health record in use in the medical community.
The lack of common definitions caused confusion about the products doctors and others were purchasing, as well as about health IT contracts, legislation and regulation, the report states.
The lack of common definitions caused confusion about the products doctors and others were purchasing, as well as about health IT contracts, legislation and regulation, the report states.
The ambiguity created an obstacle to health IT adoption and hindered its potential to improve health care quality and lower costs.
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