Health Informatics: A Comparative Analysis of EHR and EMR Systems

This report provides a comparative analysis of Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems within the context of health informatics. It highlights the significance of digital data storage in healthcare, emphasizing the role of EHRs in efficient data sharing across various healthcare settings. The report focuses on two prominent EMR systems available in Canada: OSCAR and QHR Accuro. OSCAR is described as a suite of applications with ISO and Infoway certifications, offering features like patient registration, scheduling, and electronic charting. QHR Accuro, on the other hand, is presented as a system providing data hosting, healthcare solutions, and virtual charting capabilities. The report concludes that OSCAR has a broader reach due to its advanced features and better communication capabilities, and can run in HL7 international standards, unlike QHR Accuro. The report references key sources to support its findings.

Running head: HEALTH INFORMATICS
HEALTH INFORMATICS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1HEALTH INFORMATICS
Electronic Health Record (EHR) or Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is a digital storage
format for all the patient’s health informations. Data or informations are collected systematically
and stored in digital format (Ventola, 2014). Therefore, it is easier to share one patient’s health
information across the healthcare settings of that area. The EHR records are generally shared by
the means of internet connected and enterprise wide tele-information systems. An EHR
comprises of a diverse range of data such as the demographic data of the patient, his medical
history, and data about any preexisting allergies, immunization status, lab test results, vital signs,
radiology images, and the personal statistics of the patient as well. It has been a revolutionary
addition to the health care system which helps in accurate storage of health care data and
eliminates the wastage of time that the physicians or health care professional have to invest while
tracking down the data for the patient (Ventola, 2014).
There are mainly two commercial EMR system available in Canada. The first one in
OSCAR EMR system and the other one is QHR system. The OSCAR is a group or suite of
electronic applications that includes applications for the healthcare system, patients, druggist,
self-check in utility for patients to be used in medical offices and many more. Whereas, the QHR
accuro is a group or suite of software to provide system based medical records to care centers,
hospitals, specialists for health information exchange, billing details as well as patient
scheduling. Accuro software is also available in accuro mobile and accuro patient KIOSK suites
for the convenience of the patients.
The OSCAR McMaster software has ISO certification as well as the Infoway “J” class
certification that demonstrates its quality and deliverable capacities. OSCAR can run in the
highest Health Level 7 (HL7) and thus can transfer data across the nation. It has an excellent
connection with different authorities so that the labs using this suite can easily download the

2HEALTH INFORMATICS
health reports of local patients. The prime features includes registration details of patient, their
scheduling, billing, and electronic chart including cumulative patient details. The prescription,
chronic disease management, real time communication with the druggist are also a part of its
features (Oscarcanada.org, 2017).
On the other hand, QHR accuro is dedicated to provide data hosting, solution to
healthcare issues, data storage and services and solutions to several other social issues for people
of Canada. The prime features of QHR accuro includes virtual charting to present the clinical
data in an intuitive manner prepare and manage prescriptions, 500 plus forms to be used by
specialists, professional letter generation used for referrals and discharges. The accuro helps to
create a connection or interface between healthcare centers, labs and devices across Canada
(Qhrtechnologies, 2017).
Therefore, it is evident that Oscar McMaster has a better reach in the healthcare and labs
than Accuro. Accuro cannot run in the HL7 international standards whereas the Oscar can run
both in international HL7 and in local server as well. The features of Oscar suite are advanced
and user friendly and due to better communication, it is spread across the country.

3HEALTH INFORMATICS
References
Oscarcanada.org. (2017). ABOUT OSCAR — OSCAR Canada Users Society. Oscarcanada.org.
Retrieved from
http://oscarcanada.org/about-oscar/brief-overview/index_html#standards-
conformance-and-features
Qhrtechnologies. (2017). Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. Qhrtechnologies.com. Retrieved
from https://www.qhrtechnologies.com/electronic-medical-records/
Ventola, C. L. (2014). Mobile devices and apps for health care professionals: uses and
benefits. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(5), 356.