Electronic Health Records in the Emergency Room

In an Emergency Room setting there is the pressure to make rapid, often critical decisions with incomplete information and this has a significant impact on care. However, it is difficult to provide high-quality, maximally safe, and efficient care in the Emergency Room. Information technology has the great potential for transforming the health care system, improving quality of care by providing the right information at the right time, to the right persons. This paper focuses on the expected impact of Information Systems and technology on the Emergency Room of Centro Hospitalar do Porto – Hospital de Santo António, Portugal.