| [ Summary ] |
An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a mechanism which is used locally and/or on a national level to gather information, improve the quality of medical care, control healthcare costs, and contribute to medical research. Although efforts have been made in many countries to promote the use of EHRs since the 1990s, there are currently few instances in which they are being utilized satisfactorialy. This situation can be attributed to various factors, including delays in promoting the widespread use of EHRs, failure to establish standards necessary for integrating medical information, and a lack of incentives aimed at inducing shared medical records and information in order to provide better medical care. EHR systems are in essence based on "data link" mechanisms which, in accordance with appropriate rules, share personal medical information which has been collected at data centers. In the present, period of transition there are also a number of application-sharing systems which enable EHR data from major hospitals to be viewed at related hospitals via the web or other means. One disadvantage with this system is that medical information is divided in relation to the strictures of major hospitals. During the past ten years, Japan has fallen behind other countries in use of EHR. It is hoped, however, that the national government will make decisions on a range of issues such as how to form a national consensus on EHR implementation and will develop laws which will support a national EHR system. The government must develop and operate a medical information center, which would be an essential component of the EHR infrastructure. It must also determine how to promote the widespread utilization of EHRs at medical clinics. |