HIMSS is the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. It is the healthcare industry's membership organization “exclusively focused on providing leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology and management systems for the betterment of human health.” Founded in 1961, HIMSS has offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., and other locations across the country. It represents ~17,000 individual members and some 275 member corporations that employ more than 1 million people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives. It promotes information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care.

HIMSS Definition of an EHR:

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a secure, real-time, point-of-care, patient centric information resource for clinicians.  The EHR aids clinicians’ decision making by providing access to patient health record information where and when they need it and by incorporating evidence-based decision support.  The EHR automates and streamlines the clinician’s workflow, closing loops in communication and response that result in delays or gaps in care.  The EHR also supports the collection of data for other uses than direct clinical care, such as billing, quality management, outcomes reporting, resource planning, and public health disease surveillance and reporting.

HIMSS Essential Requirements:

• Provides secure, reliable, real-time access to patient health record information where and when it is needed to support care.
• Captures and manages episodic and longitudinal electronic health record information.
• Functions as clinicians’ primary information resource during the provision of patient care.
• Assists with the work of planning and delivering evidence-based care to individual and groups of patients.
• Captures data used for continuous quality improvement, utilization review, risk management, resource planning, and performance management.
• Captures the patient health related information needed for medical records and reimbursement.
• Provides longitudinal, appropriately masked information to support clinical research, public health reporting, and population health initiatives.
• Supports clinical trials and evidence-based research.

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