Difference between EHR and EMR

EMR and EHR terms are often used interchangeably. They both serve the same purpose but have some different and unique features. These are actually the digital records of patient’s health history. Both of these records stay with the doctor and are not shared with anyone, if a patient decides to change the doctor, his EMR and EHR are unlikely to follow. The record contains demographics, medical history, test results, history of present illness and the prescribed medications.

EHR.

EHR is abbreviated as Electronic Health Record. It is known as a condition of human body as in being healthy in mind and body, spirit and free of any sort of disease. It covers more territory than the EMR as it generally describes health of an individual. EHR goes beyond the doctor or the health organization collecting data about a person’s health. These are built to share the information withy other health care providers. It is built to share data among different physicians, laboratories and nursing homes etc.

EMR.

EMR is abbreviated as Electronic Medical Record. It is used by the clinical staff for the diagnosis and treatment. EMR limits to the digital form of the data and for physical presentation the data needs to be printed out or email to other health practitioners. This is a useful tool to track the care quality of patients and determine who needs vaccination or preventive screening etc. It is not designed to share information outside of the specific individual clinic.

	EHR	EMR
Abbreviation	Electronic Health Record	Electronic Medical Record
Definition	Collects data about a person’s health generally.	Collects data about a person’s medical condition and prescriptions.
Data Transfer	Data can be shared among other clinics, labs and nursing homes etc.	Data cannot be shared outside the individual's clinic.
Features	EHR have more features in terms of adding more data about person’s health.	EMR have limited features and only accounts for the medical condition of a person.

Venn Diagram