The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is the future of pediatric patient record documentation Limitations in software, hardware and networking technologies has made EMR difficult to affordably implement in small, budget conscious, multiple location healthcare organizations. EMR, while an important factor in interoperability, are not a critical first step to sharing data between practicing pediatricians, pharmacies and hospitals. Many pediatricians currently have computerized practice management systems that can be used in conjunction with health information exchange (HIE), allowing for first steps in sharing share kids patient information (lab results, public health reporting) which are necessary for timely, child-centered and portable care. Information in an EMR includes documents relating to the past, present and/or future physical and mental health and condition of a patient, medical test reports or multimedia images, and financial and demographic information. A major concern is adequate confidentiality of the individual records being managed electronically. There are a two primary categories of the EMR; the born digital record and the scanned/imaged record. Paper Charts of Kid Patient Medical Records are the norm worldwide for recording child patient information. Barriers to adopting an EMR system include training, costs and complexity, as well as the lack of a national standard for interoperability among competing software options. Computerised information systems have not achieved the same degree of penetration in healthcare as that seen in other sectors such as finance, transport and the manufacturing and retail industries. Implementation of electronic medical record systems promises significant advances in pediatric patient care, because such systems enhance readability, availability, and data quality.
Key words: EMR, Children, Pediatrics, Implementation.
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