Cavacuiti Chris, Svoboda Tomislav
Seaton House Men's Shelter, and Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, St Michael's Health Centre, 410 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2008 Nov;19(4):1270-81. doi: 10.1353/hpu.0.0090.
To assess the features of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) used by North American homeless outreach organizations.
Twenty-eight homeless outreach agencies throughout North America were contacted. Nine used EMRs for homeless outreach. Service providers from these nine agencies were interviewed to learn more about their EMRs.
While all of the agencies we interviewed were using different EMR systems, the important features of these EMRs were quite similar. Two of the most frequently cited essential features were: 1) the ability of different sites and providers to access medical information; and 2) the capacity to collect aggregated client data (such as numbers of clients served, services provided, and outcomes) for planning, evaluation, and advocacy purposes.
An electronic medical record (EMR) available at multiple locations to multiple providers is a powerful tool with the potential to improve the coordination, safety, efficiency, and quality of care to people who are homeless.
评估北美无家可归者外展组织使用的电子病历（EMR）的特点。
联系了北美各地的28个无家可归者外展机构。其中9个机构在无家可归者外展工作中使用电子病历。对这9个机构的服务提供者进行了访谈，以进一步了解他们使用的电子病历。
虽然我们采访的所有机构都在使用不同的电子病历系统，但这些电子病历的重要特征非常相似。最常被提及的两个基本特征是：1）不同地点和提供者获取医疗信息的能力；2）为规划、评估和宣传目的收集汇总客户数据（如服务的客户数量、提供的服务和结果）的能力。
可供多个地点的多个提供者使用的电子病历是一个强大的工具，有可能改善为无家可归者提供的医疗服务的协调、安全、效率和质量。
