Electronic Health Record Systems in Long-Term Care
Summary
Electronic health record systems are transforming long-term care by digitising residents’ clinical histories, care plans and regulatory documentation. Unlike acute care settings, long-term care environments demand systems that accommodate complex, chronic needs, multidisciplinary teams and regulatory frameworks specific to aged care and residential services. EHRs promise to improve continuity of care, reduce medication errors and facilitate real-time decision support, yet adoption lags due to heterogeneous vendor solutions, limited interoperability, insufficient incentives and workforce training gaps. Recent advances emphasise the importance of user-centred design, scalable infrastructure and health information exchange to connect residential facilities with hospitals, pharmacies and primary care. By integrating data analytics and ambient assisted living technologies, modern EHR platforms can support precision care, enhance quality monitoring and engage residents and families globally in long-term care delivery.
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Electronic Health Record Systems in Long-Term Care publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in electronic health record systems in long-term care across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Electronic Health Record (EHR): A digital version of a resident’s health and care history, accessible and updatable by authorised care providers across settings.
Implicit rationing of nursing care: The omission or delay of necessary care activities or documentation due to resource constraints or system inefficiencies.
User-centred design: An iterative development approach that involves end users at each stage to ensure the system meets their needs and integrates with workflows.
Health information exchange (HIE): The electronic sharing of health-related information among organisations to improve care coordination.
References
- Electronic Health Record Use in Swiss Nursing Homes and Its Association With Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care Documentation: Multicenter Cross-sectional Survey Study. JMIR Medical Informatics (2021).
- Factors impacting clinical data and documentation quality in Australian aged care and disability services: a user-centred perspective. BMC Geriatrics (2024).
- Staff perspectives on the usability of electronic patient records for planning and delivering dementia care in nursing homes: a multiple case study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making (2020).
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