title: The future is electronic.
abstract: Electronic patient records are a central feature of many national policies on health information technology. The present article provides an overview of definitions for various degrees of medical record computerisation and current obstacles to implementation. A summary of progress in the areas of standards, specific technological developments and legal issues is provided. The wide ranging benefits of electronic patient records and the implications for health information managers and clinical coders are discussed.
authors.affiliation: National Coding Centre.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Luxford
mesh_terms: D000043:Abstracting and Indexing; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D001315:Australia; D003201:Computers; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010067:Ownership; D011640:Public Policy; D012984:Software; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled