What is an Electronic Health Record or EHR?

• It’s a secure electronic version of your personal health information or medical record.

• It is updated each time you visit your health care provider.​

 

What types of information about me are stored in an EHR?

• personal identifying information (i.e., date of birth, age, gender)

• contact information (i.e., phone numbers, email address)

• detailed medical notes about your health, past medical history, current diagnoses, treatment plans, medications, vital signs, lab test results, X-rays and immunizations

 

Why is Springhill Medical Center moving to EHR?​

• EHRs help improve patient safety and quality of patient care. Health care providers within our system will use EHR to coordinate and document your medical care.

• EHRs give health care providers quick and secure access to all of your medical information stored within our health system in order to make more informed and faster decisions about your diagnosis and treatment.

• The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH), part of the American recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, requires that physicians and hospitals across the U.S. adopt EHR by 2014.

 

How is EHR different from current computer systems?

• EHR will combine medical information currently stored at Springhill Medical Center in individual computerized systems—such as laboratory, pharmacy, radiology and billing—into one system to create a single record for each patient.

 

How does an EHR benefit me?

• Your health care providers will have access to all of your health information from any physician or clinic you use within Springhill Medical Center to better coordinate your care.

• EHRs provide secure, convenient online access to your personal medical information to help our providers deliver safe, high-quality health care to you.

• EHR will save you time because it gives your physicians quicker, easier access to items like specialist’s reports, test results, medication lists and your medical history.

 

Is my record secure? Will it protect my confidential information?

• Yes.

• Your health care providers have individual usernames and passwords to access the system.

• We enforce the use of complex passwords requirements that meet or exceed national industry best practices for information security.

• Security measures are built into the system to limit the information that is accessible to each individual user based on his or her need to know in order to properly care for you.

• Springhill Medical Center employees will only be able to access information in your record that is necessary for them to perform their job duties as it relates to your care.

 

Can my electronic information be lost?

• No.

• Your electronic record is stored on a secure computer server and is also backed up in a second secure server to prevent the loss of information.

 

Who can see my electronic health record?

• The physicians and nurses who provide your care will have access to all of your health information.

• Other members of your care team also will have limited access to only the information they need to help them care for you. For example, the registration staff will be able to see your identification and contact information, but not any of your health records.

• Again, staff will only have access to information that is necessary to perform their jobs, so your personal health information remains secure and private.