Strengthening public health and primary care collaboration through electronic health records.

Electronic health records (EHRs) have great potential to serve as a catalyst for more effective coordination between public health departments and primary care providers (PCP) in maintaining healthy communities. As a system for documenting patient health data, EHRs can be harnessed to improve public health surveillance for communicable and chronic illnesses. EHRs facilitate clinical alerts informed by public health goals that guide primary care physicians in real time in their diagnosis and treatment of patients. As health departments reassess their public health agendas, the use of EHRs to facilitate this agenda in primary care settings should be considered. PCPs and EHR vendors, in turn, will need to configure their EHR systems and practice workflows to align with public health priorities as these agendas include increased involvement of primary care providers in addressing public health concerns.