Terminology
The use of information technologies in the health care system is evolving quickly, as is the terminology used in this new and complex environment.
To avoid confusion, this is how these terms are defined by the College:
Alberta Netcare or Alberta’s Electronic Health Record – See Provincial Electronic Health Record.
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) – All the patient records stored on a computer system in a community physician’s office, where access is limited to that physician and their designated staff. The computer system may or may not have been purchased from a Qualified Service Provider under the Physician Office Systems Program (POSP).
Shared Electronic Medical Record (Shared EMR) – All the patient records stored on a computer system in a multi-practitioner setting (e.g., Edmonton Clinic South), where access is shared by numerous physicians who have signed an information sharing agreement and their authorized staff.
Provincial Electronic Health Record (EHR) – The repository of prescribed health information for individual Albertans (e.g., laboratory test results, diagnostic imaging reports, dispensing events, etc.), where access is shared by authorized health service providers to assist in patient care. It is not a patient's full health or medical record. Also known as Alberta Netcare.