Track E10: Workshop: The potential of electronic medical records for health service management

The medical record held in primary care provides the most comprehensive summary of all medical events.Diagnostic, laboratory, and prescribing data are all linked in individual patient records.Networks of GPs in some European countries are routinely recording data electronically in a way which allows extraction of epidemiological information from routine operational data at low cost.This workshop is based on a current EU funded project on the use of electronic medical records for epidemiological purposes in practice networks.We will explore the potential of these information systems to inform public health policy and consider their wider application.