1) access of patient data by clinical staff at any given location

2) accurate and complete claims processing by insurance companies

3) building automated checks for drug and allergy interactions

4) clinical notes

5) prescriptions

6) scheduling

7) sending to and viewing by labs

The term has become expanded to include systems which keep track of other relevant medical information. The practice management system is the medical office functions which support and surround the electronic medical record.

Although an EMR system has the potential to permit invasion of medical privacy, if security policies are monitored effectively EMRs are as secure as banking records, for example.

Electronic records fall under the purview of medical informatics, a combination of computation and computer science and medical record keeping.

According to the Medical Records Institute, five levels of an Electronic HealthCare Record (EHCR) can be distinguished:

1) The Automated Medical Record is a paper-based record with some computer-generated documents.

2) The Computerized Medical Record (CMR) makes the documents of level 1 electronically available.

3) The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) restructures and optimizes the documents of the previous levels ensuring inter-operability of all documentation systems.

4) The Electronic Patient Record (EPR) is a patient-centered record with information from multiple institutions.

5) The Electronic Health Record (EHR) adds general health-related information to the EPR that is not necessarily related to a disease.

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