Electronic health record (EHR)
Digital Health and AI
Definition. An electronic health record is a digital, longitudinal record of a patient’s health information that can be shared across providers and used for care, management and research.
Explanation
EHR data can support quality measurement, often more accurately than administrative claims, because they contain clinical detail (Tang et al., 2007). New architectures, including blockchain-based records, aim to improve security and sharing (Tanwar et al., 2020).
EHRs have also increased documentation time and burnout. AI tools that draft or summarise notes can reduce this burden, although evidence is still developing (Zhao et al., 2025). Value depends on usability, data quality and interoperability across organisations.
Related concepts
Interoperability Health information system Burnout Quality indicator Data governance
Read on The Health Topics
- EHR Data Versus Administrative Claims for Quality Measurement
- Blockchain Healthcare Systems: Security, Chaincode, and EHR Performance
- AI Tools in Clinical Documentation: Reducing Burden and Time
References
Tang, P. C., Ralston, M., Fernandez Arrigotti, M., Qureshi, L., & Graham, J. (2007). Comparison of methodologies for calculating quality measures based on administrative data versus clinical data from an electronic health record system: Implications for performance measures. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 14 (1), 10–15. https://doi.org/10.1197/jamia.M2198
Tanwar, S., Parekh, K., & Evans, R. (2020). Blockchain-based electronic healthcare record system for healthcare 4.0 applications. Journal of Information Security and Applications, 50, 102407.
Zhao, J., Liu, H., Chen, Y., & Song, F. (2025). Application of artificial intelligence tools and clinical documentation burden: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-025-03324-w
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Electronic health record (EHR). In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/electronic-health-record/