The Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Legal Health Record (LHR) are both documents containing patient information, but the purposes of creating the records are different. EHR is defined as “an electronic record of health-related information about an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be created, managed, and accessed by authorized clinicians and staff in more than one health organization” (Fahrenholz, CG & Russo, R., 2013b ). The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has published a list of required elements that an EHR must have to meet the full EHR definition. According to the ONC, the EHR must include, for outpatient and hospital systems: computerized entry of provider orders, demographic data, a problem list, a medication list, a drug allergy list, assistance with clinical decisions, care transitions, data portability, clinical quality. metrics, authentication, access control and authorization, verifiable events and tamper resistance, audit reports, modifications, automatic logout, emergency access, end user encryption, integrity, drug and allergy interaction controls, vital signs, body mass. indexes and growth charts, electronic notes, medication formulary checks, smoking status, image results, family medical history, patient list creation, patient-specific educational resources, electronic prescribing, clinical information reconciliation, test incorporation laboratory and values/results, vaccination information, transmission to vaccination registries, transmission to public health agencies-syndromic surveillance, automated calculation of measurements, enhanced safety design, quality management system and ability to visualize , download and tra...... middle of paper .... health care organizations would like to use the least amount of information necessary to prove their case in court or to a health care company insurance. The federal government has set standards for what must be included in the EHR, but healthcare organizations must set their own standards for what they will include in their LHR. The biggest difference between the EHR and the LHR is what is kept secure. Many of the ONC requirements for an EHR are not directly related to patient care, but are related to the protection of patient information; for example: authentication, access control and authorization, auditable events and tamper resistance, audit reports, modifications, automatic logout, emergency access, end-user encryption and integrity. In contrast, the information contained in the LHR is intended to keep the healthcare organization safe during legal challenges..