Journal of International Research in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have transformed modern healthcare by improving the storage, accessibility, and utilization of patient information in both clinical practice and medical research. The evolution of EHR systems began with early paper-based documentation and progressed through innovations such as the Problem-Oriented Medical Record and the Regenstrief Medical Record System, which established the foundation for modern digital healthcare infrastructure. Over the years, EHRs have expanded beyond simple recordkeeping and now support clinical decision-making, pharmacovigilance, disease surveillance, public health monitoring, and large-scale biomedical research. The integration of big data analytics, artificial intelligence, genomic information, and natural language processing has further enhanced the role of EHRs in precision medicine and personalized healthcare. During the COVID-19 pandemic, EHR systems demonstrated their value in real-time surveillance, patient monitoring, and rapid healthcare response. Despite these advancements, challenges related to interoperability, data standardization, privacy protection, cybersecurity, and unequal global access continue to affect their optimal implementation. Future EHR systems are expected to become more intelligent, interconnected, and patient-centered through integration with wearable technologies, telemedicine, digital therapeutics, and social determinants of health, ultimately improving healthcare quality, research efficiency, and clinical outcomes worldwide.