An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an electronic version of a patient’s medical and health history, maintained by the provider/s over time, including that person’s demographics, testing, treatments, progress notes, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports etc. (CMS.gov 2014). For hospitals, participation increased from 45 percent of those eligible for 2011 to 64 percent of those eligible for 2012. For professionals, such as physicians, participation increased from 21 percent of those eligible for 2011 to 48 percent of those eligible for 2012. All providers will be required to switch to EHRs, with penalties in the years to come for those who do not switch (US Government Accountability Office 2014, 2020).

Some advantages include: 1) Access by multiple providers remotely, 2) Better communication among different disciplines, 3) Medications available in one location, warning of interactions; immediate retrieval of test results, 4) Reduce charting time, issues around illegible handwriting, and 5) Facilitates billing and claims. Some disadvantages include: 1) Major financial investment to obtain and initiate system, 2) Learning curve to use system, requiring training and retraining, 3) Need to maintain security and confidentiality, 4) Legal and ethical issues around use and client privacy, 5) Standardized terminology to be able to share across networks, and 6) Reduced face to face time with patients while entering data during office visits. (Modified from Young 2015). (Mental Health EMR/EHR software: Access Luminello.com.)