#Industry News
Q&A/HIMSS: The Need to Optimize the Use of EHRs
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a longitudinal electronic record of patient health information generated by one or more encounters in any care delivery setting, according to the HIMSS website.
MedicalExpo talked about the state of EHRs with Carol Steltenkamp, board chair of the HIMSS, the Chief Medical Information Officer at the University of Kentucky Healthcare and a practicing pediatrician.
MedicalExpo e-magazine: What is the state of EHRs now?
Carol Steltenkamp: Some of it depends on what your geography is. Different areas of the world have different levels of implementation. Europe is a little bit ahead, Asia is doing well, whereas some of the south American continent is not as far along.
ME e-magazine: Is the U.S. ahead of Europe in that sense?
Carol Steltenkamp: Yes, if you look at the percentage of clinicians that have implemented electronic health records and are using it in the moment-to-moment care of a patient, the U.S. is ahead. We feel it is due to “meaningful use,” the HITECH Act (rules issued by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, combined with an incentive payment program).
