The electronic patient record (EHR) was originally developed to ensure that patient data, examinations, medication and treatment were stored in a central location so that they could also be shared more easily with other healthcare providers. In the meantime, data from EHRs are also used for medical examinations, training AI models and deep learning algorithms and are a source of new medical insights. The role and influence of the EHR – which has now been around for about 25 years – was recently investigated by the Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
This study ‘Twenty-Five Years of Evolution and Hurdles in Electronic Health Records and Interoperability in Medical Research: Comprehensive Review’, examined how the use of electronic patient records in medical research has developed over the past 25 years.
More than 60 years ago
The first steps towards digitally storing medical (patient) data were already taken in the 1960s. “Since then, this method has evolved from an attempt to reduce physical storage to contributing to a rich trove of data that has informed and improved the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare. Today, the big data generated by electronic health records supports interoperability, seamless collection of health information, and the scanning of population health trends, even on a global scale,” said Dr. Shen, assistant professor of chronic disease epidemiology research at Pennington Biomedical.
Separating Patient Care from Research
A key aspect of maintaining electronic health records is the separation between the use of the records for patient care and their use for research. Healthcare professionals play a key role in accurately documenting and collecting the data in the records, and may also enter data regarding identifying information, patient demographics, and billing information.
A critical step before such data is used for secondary research is data anonymization, where identifiable patient data is removed or masked to ensure privacy. Concerns about data security and privacy often impact how the information collected is used for research, and institutions have committees or boards that review research proposals for compliance.
“Electronic health records are here to stay, and examining the history of medical records and the growth of their use is critical to understanding how they can be used to advance medicine and improve outcomes,” said Dr. John Kirwan, executive director of Pennington Biomedical.
Looking to the future
The study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), also provides a look at upcoming applications for electronic health records, including precision medicine, social determinants of health, population health data, epidemiology, data analytics, digital therapeutics, and further applications of artificial intelligence and wearable devices.
In the meantime, the researchers also advocate for interdisciplinary collaborations that maximize the potential of EHRs in advancing precision medicine, epidemiology, and digital health solutions by working with healthcare institutions, policymakers, and technology developers.
