Medical Records
Electronic Health Records at North Oaks Health System
Authorization to Release Medical Information (pdf)
What is an Electronic Health Record or EHR?
- It’s a secure electronic version of your personal health information
or medical record.
- It is updated each time you visit your health care provider.
What types of information about me are stored in an EHR?
- personal identifying information (i.e., date of birth, age, gender)
- contact information (i.e., phone numbers, email address)
- detailed medical notes about your health, past medical history, current
diagnoses, treatment plans, medications, vital signs, lab test results,
X-rays and immunizations
Why is North Oaks moving to EHR?
- EHRs help improve patient safety and quality of patient care. Health care
providers within our system will use EHR to coordinate and document your
medical care.
- EHRs give health care providers quick and secure access to all of your
medical information stored within our health system in order to make more
informed and faster decisions about your diagnosis and treatment.
- The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act
of 2009 (HITECH), part of the American recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, requires that physicians and hospitals across the U.S. adopt EHR by 2014.
How is EHR different from current computer systems?
- EHR will combine medical information currently stored at North Oaks in
individual computerized systems—such as laboratory, pharmacy, radiology
and billing—into one system to create a single record for each patient.
How does an EHR benefit me?
- Your health care providers will have access to all of your health information
from any physician or clinic you use within North Oaks Health System to
better coordinate your care.
- EHRs provide secure, convenient online access to your personal medical
information to help our providers deliver safe, high-quality health care to you.
- EHR will save you time because it gives your physicians quicker, easier
access to items like specialist’s reports, test results, medication
lists and your medical history.
Is my record secure? Will it protect my confidential information?
- Yes.
- Your health care providers have individual usernames and passwords to access
the system.
- We enforce the use of complex passwords requirements that meet or exceed
national industry best practices for information security.
- Security measures are built into the system to limit the information that
is accessible to each individual user based on his or her need to know
in order to properly care for you.
- North Oaks employees will only be able to access information in your record
that is necessary for them to perform their job duties as it relates to
your care.
Can my electronic information be lost?
- No.
- Your electronic record is stored on a secure computer server and is also
backed up in a second secure server to prevent the loss of information.
Who can see my electronic health record?
- The physicians and nurses who provide your care will have access to all
of your health information.
- Other members of your care team also will have limited access to only the
information they need to help them care for you. For example, the registration
staff will be able to see your identification and contact information,
but not any of your health records.
- Again, staff will only have access to information that is necessary to
perform their jobs, so your personal health information remains secure
and private.