Implementation of Integrated Electronic Health Record Access for Out-of-Hospital Clinicians

Care integration using the electronic health record (EHR) prevents error and improves healthcare delivery by allowing key components of patients’ medical history to accompany them across different clinical settings. However, connectivity obstacles still silo the prehospital environment from brick-and-motor hospitals. The growing scope of practice and sophisticated clinical care provided by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel demands connection with the EHR to ensure continuity of care. However, EHR access for EMS personnel is uncommon and little is known about the feasibility of implementing its operation in the prehospital setting.