The Role of Electronic Health Records in Presenting Health Information

Corrently any institute that does not benefit from information technology and communicationnetworks, will gradually fall away from global communication. Therefore, various industries haveshifted towards applying information technology in order to increas their quality and productivity intoday’s competitive world. The health industry has also experienced such change. The health systemhas been constantly taking effective steps towards benefitting from the latest technologies to increasehealth and improve clinical anf financial results.In an announcement made in the 55th public session of the United Nations in Sepptember, 2000, andaccepted by 189 member countries, information and communication technology was introduced as animportant tool for achieving all the goals of this organization such as reducing poverty, correctingeducational and health services, easy access to governmental services and improving the society’shealth level. Considering the importance of medical records as the most important information sourcein healthcare, we can claim that one of the best aspects of the application of information technology inthe health system which has an key role in increasing the effectiveness of the health system, is thecreation of electronic medical records.The electronic health record tool is an electronic health record system that enables the healthcarepersonnel save time and money and improve the health condition of patients by organizing theirrecords. Moreover, the diagnosis and treatment process will also be simplified. This tool combinestraditional paper records with modern technological facilities for increasing the accuracy and speed ofcompleting healthcare records. Using paper records has certain problems such as mistakes related tobad handwriting, prescriptions, and mistakes in writing words, icreased costs for copying forms,cards, and files, and most importantly the place needed for filing the records and the human resourcesneeded for this task. Therefore, for overcoming these problems, electronic health records aresuggested. However, considering the sensitivity of the information, the confidentiality of the records is very important. Therefore, many countries have set policies int his regard. Maintaing the confidentiality of the records differs between societies considering their social, economical, scientific, political and cultural conditions.