electronic health record

noun

plural electronic health records
: a digital collection of a patient's medical information (such as medications, immunizations, lab results, or diagnoses) : EHR
Electronic health records have become essential tools in medicine, replacing the rooms full of paper documents that were hard to maintain and subject to fires and other losses.—Karen Weintraub
For our staff and providers, having one electronic health record means one login and one point of access for all patient information. For patients, it means having one portal for all medical records …—John Wilcox, quoted in Morris (Illinois) Daily Herald

Examples of electronic health record in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Study authors completed the study by gathering data from electronic health records and compared how patients fared on the lowest doses of the two medications. — Ken Alltucker, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026 That may help explain why these symptoms are so much less visible in electronic health records. — Yulin Hswen, STAT, 27 Aug. 2026 Boys are more likely to receive their autism diagnosis between the ages of 3 and 11, one 2024 review of electronic health records found. — Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Tang’s latest study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open, analyzed more than 3 million patient message threads from the Mass General Brigham electronic health record system. — Elise Haulund, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for electronic health record

Word History

First Known Use

1993, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of electronic health record was in 1993

Rhymes for electronic health record

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Browse Nearby Words

electronic funds transfer
electronic health record
electronic heating
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Cite this Entry

“Electronic health record.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/electronic%20health%20record. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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Medical Definition

electronic health record

noun
: a digital collection of a patient's medical information (such as medications, immunizations, lab results, or diagnoses) : ehr
One of the key benefits of electronic health records is their ability to support coordinated care. They facilitate seamless data exchange between various providers, from primary care physicians to specialists …—International Organization for Standardization
The traditional goal of progress notes is to provide a concise, up-to-date reflection of the patient's condition and the clinician's thought process. Electronic health records … allow physicians writing these notes to supplement traditional manual data entry with copied or imported text.—Michael D. Wang et al., JAMA Internal Medicine
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