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EHR Fundamentals and Core Functions

via Coursera

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Details

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

4 weeks, 1 hour a week
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

English

Found in

Overview

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Most healthcare professionals interact with electronic health record (EHR) systems every day. These systems play a critical role in supporting safe and effective patient care. This course will teach you the fundamentals of EHR systems. You will learn how patient information is captured, organized, and shared to support clinical care and administrative workflows. You will explore common interface structures, patient record navigation, and foundational data entry principles that promote accuracy and help prevent errors. You will also review core functional areas, including patient demographics, clinical documentation, orders, results, and communication tools. Through realistic scenarios, you will apply EHR concepts to common workplace situations and understand how workflow decisions affect the quality and reliability of health information. This course is designed for anyone seeking a foundational understanding of EHR systems, whether in administrative, clinical, or health information management roles. By focusing on core concepts that apply across EHR platforms, this course provides a foundation for working with a wide range of EHR systems.

Syllabus

Introduction to EHR Systems

In this module, you will explore what electronic health record (EHR) systems are, how they differ from paper-based records and other health information systems, and why they are essential to modern healthcare operations. You will examine the types of healthcare organizations that rely on EHR systems and the professional roles that interact with them daily, from administrative staff to clinical providers. You will also learn how EHR systems contribute to operational efficiency, reduction of medical errors, and regulatory compliance in healthcare settings. By the end of this module, you will understand how EHR systems support documentation, coordination, and administrative workflows, building a strong foundation for confident navigation and responsible system use in real-world healthcare settings.

EHR Workflow Structure and Data Entry Principles

In this module, you will explore how EHR systems are organized and how users interact with them in everyday healthcare settings. You will examine typical interface components, learn how to move within a patient record, and understand the workflows that govern secure system access and patient lookup. The module also covers core data entry principles that support accuracy and error prevention. Through guided scenarios, you will practice identifying what good EHR navigation and data entry looks like in practice. By the end of this module, you will be able to describe how users access and navigate EHR systems and apply data entry principles that support accuracy and completeness.

Core EHR Functions and Components

In this module, you will learn about the primary functional areas of an EHR system and examine how each one supports specific workflows and professional roles within healthcare settings. You will explore patient demographics, clinical documentation, scheduling, orders and results management, and internal communication tools, and learn how these areas function together as part of an integrated patient record. The module also explains how data entered in one section becomes available across clinical workflows, administrative processes, reporting functions, and patient-facing interfaces such as portals. By the end of this module, you will be able to identify core EHR components and explain how coordinated, accurate data use supports safe, efficient, and compliant healthcare operations.

Final Project, Exam, and Wrap-Up

In this final module, you will consolidate your learning by completing a comprehensive final project that brings together concepts from across the course. The project requires you to apply your understanding of EHR system fundamentals, interface navigation, patient identification workflows, data entry principles, and core functional areas to a realistic healthcare scenario. You will analyze how workflow decisions, data accuracy, and integrated data flow affect overall record integrity and care coordination. The module concludes with a course summary, a glossary of key terms for review, and a final exam designed to assess your comprehensive understanding of EHR fundamentals and their practical application in healthcare settings.