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‘Meaningful use’ toward HIEs – questions for Dr David Blumenthal

I read with interest update 3 by Dr David Blumenthal of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Firstly Dr Blumenthal, consistently uses the term EHR (Electronic Health Record).  Per my definition of EHR vs EMR (Electronic Medical Record) an EMR is used by one vendor such as a physician, whereas an EHR is a patient’s collective record of medical data sourced by several healthcare providers.

Questions for Dr Blumenthal:

1. Did you mean that health care providers should implement EMRs,  not EHRs?
2. How will the various EMRs share data between each other (and their regional HIEs/RHIOs )  so that patients can move with ease from provider to provider? Will HITSP provide standards that EMRs can adhere to? Will HL7 be updated?
3. What about medical terminology? Will EMR vendors adhere to LOINC or ICD-10 so that a universal EHR can be created for patients?

October 1, 2009 Posted by jgershater | Health Information Technology | Dr David Blumenthal, EHR, EMR, HHS, HIE, meaningful use | 1 Comment