Implementing an Ehr: A Life-Changing Experience: First, Learn as Much as You Can, Then Prepare to Learn a Whole Lot More (Views on Technology) (Electronic Health Records‪)‬

This article is the first in a series focused on how information technology is changing the process of behavioral healthcare delivery. The remarkably ambitious and detailed Health Information Technology (HIT) infrastructure outlined by the Office of the National Coordinator is so vast in scope that it is difficult to comprehend. In a nutshell, it envisions that each patient has an electronic health record (EHR) that consists of a series of smaller record segments (sometimes referred to as electronic medical records, or EMRs) generated and held by individual provider offices such as primary care, surgeon, or gastroenterologist. A special segment of the EHR--designated with special privacy protections outlined by the HIPAA Privacy Rule (42 CFR, Part 2)--would contain electronic records associated with behavioral health or substance abuse treatment.