Health Information Technology (HIT) is becoming increasingly useful and implemented more frequently by health care providers throughout the United States. This technology may include Electronic Health Records (EHR) or Electronic Medical Records (EMR). The shift towards implementing Electronic Health Records has a significant influence on the quality of care provided by health care providers; however, some providers still stick to the basic paper documentation due to skepticism and disregard the benefits to adopting new technologies. Many questions arise when a health care provider is interested in adopting EHR's, such as why adopt EHR's? What are the benefits of EHR's in relation to paper documentation? What steps need to be taken in order to adopt and implement EHR's? What barriers will be encountered during the decision making process and how will these barriers be addressed? A health practice interested in adopting and implementing an EHR system must establish priorities, identify potential risks and how to avoid or overcome these risks, outweigh the pros and cons, set goals, and adhere to strict guidelines to ensure adopting a successful system. The terms Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) are often used interchangeably by health care providers when in fact there is a subtle difference between EHRs and EMRs. Electronic Medical Records and Electronic Medical Records are both digital versions of a patient's medical history and information; however EMRs are designed to communicate within one specific practice. They are often used for diagnosis and treatments. EHR's on the other hand are designed to exchange a patient's information between several health care providers who are associated with the patient. Data in EHRs may include administrative and billing data, patient demographics, progress notes, vital signs, medical history, diagnoses, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and lab and test results. This data in EHRs can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized personnel across several health care organizations (Health IT, n.d.). After differentiating between EHRs and EMRs, health care providers need to outweigh the benefits of implementing EHRs compared to traditional paper documentation. Benefits may include improved quality and convenience of patient care, increased patient participation in their care, improved accuracy of diagnosis and health outcomes, improved care coordination, and increased practice efficiencies and cost savings. Formats for paper charts and EHRs are structured differently. Paper charts consist of less-structured free text, while EHRs provide more organization and structure through a controlled vocabulary (Stausberg, Koch, Ingenerf, Betzler, 2003). Evolution in technology can be both an advantage and disadvantage to healthcare providers. It is crucial for medical centers who utilize health information technology to stay up to date with current technologies. Updated technologies can improve healthcare services and provide a competitive advantage to those who implement them (Health Connect, 2000). In the past, all the medical records of the patients were in paper form. Today there is several ways to transfer medical information between practitioners and facilities through the forms of telemedicine, EHRs, remote monitoring devices, etc. When patient information was written on paper, it was difficult to be transferred to other providers and organizations. EHRs has increased efficiency, reduced medical errors, and increased communication efficiency between different providers (Health Connect, 2000). In rural areas, lack of updated computers systems has been an issue in developing EHRs. Introducing EHR to rural communities will require time and money. Getting information electronically is efficient and easily accessible. Characteristics of superior data quality are reliability, completeness, legibility, currency and timeliness, and accessibility. Reliable data is consistent and dependable. Complete data includes accurate information in its entirety. Legible data can be easily comprehended and deciphered. Through currency and timeliness, data recorded is up to date and appropriate. Systems which are easily accessible will improve efficiency as authorized providers can pull patient information from different locations (Health Connect, 2000). Clinical decision support (CDS) tools, computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems, and health information exchange (HIE) are accessory applications which can be implemented with EHR systems. These applications ensure quality of care improvements and reductions in health systems costs. Clinical decision support (CDS) tools are necessary to improve health and health care delivery through enhanced health related decisions, organized clinical knowledge and patient information. The information provided can include general clinical knowledge, guidance, processed patient data, or a combinati