A committee of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has identified a set of 8 core care delivery functions that electronic health records (EHR) systems should be capable of performing in order to promote greater safety, quality and efficiency in health care delivery. 

Detailed in a new report, this list of key capabilities will be used by Health Level Seven (HL7), one of the world's leading developers of healthcare standards, to devise a common industry standard for EHR functionality that will guide the efforts of software developers.

The eight core functions are

• health information and data,
• result management,
• order management,
• decision support,
• electronic communication and connectivity,
• patient support,
• administrative processes and reporting,
• Reporting and population health.

The report was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is one part of a public and private collaborative effort to advance the adoption of EHR systems.