Electronic Medical Records and Quality Improvement

Widespread adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) in the United States is transforming the practice of medicine from a paper-based cottage industry into an integrated health care delivery system. Most physicians and institutions view the widespread use of EMRs to be inevitable. But the transformation has not been painless. Many have questioned whether the substantial investment in electronic health records has really been justified by improved patient outcomes or quality of care. This article describes historical and recent efforts to use EMRs to improve the quality of patient care, and provides a roadmap of EMR uses for the foreseeable future.