From electronic medical record to personal health records: present situation and trends in European Union in the area of electronic healthcare records.
In this article we define the electronic healthcare record (EHR) and present its purpose as a tool for continuity of care. We consider the EHR system as a necessary tool for collaborative work of healthcare professionals linking the traditional stand alone physician's systems or departmental systems, which we refer to here as electronic medical record systems. We briefly describe the current usage of electronic medical records in EU and focus on the major challenges to wide implementation of electronic healthcare record systems. Finally, we point out trends that show stronger involvement of patients (citizens) in the health care process and discuss the impact on future EHR systems. We call the next generation of EHR that takes into account the new role of citizens Personal Health Records.
Iakovidis
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European Commission, DGXIII, Telematics Applications for Health, Brussels, Belgium. ilias.iakovidis@bxl.dg13.cec.be
D003219:Confidentiality; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005062:European Union; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends