The electronic health record (EHR) and the legal health record (LHR) are both documents containing patient information, but the goals in creating medical records are different. An electronic health record is defined as "an electronic record of an individual's health information that complies with nationally recognized interoperability standards and can be created, managed, and accessed by authorized physicians and staff in more than one healthcare organization" (Fahrenholz , C.G. & Russo, R., 2013b ).The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has published a list of required elements that an electronic health record must possess to meet the full definition of an electronic health record According to the ONC, the EHR must include, for both outpatient and inpatient systems: computerized provider order entry, demographic data, a list of problems, a list of medications, a list of drug allergies, decision support. clinics, care transitions, data portability, clinical quality measures, authentication, access control and authorization, auditable events and tamper resistance, audit reports, changes, automatic logout, emergency access, end-user encryption, integrity, drug-drug interaction and drug allergy checks, vital signs, body mass indices and growth charts, electronic notes, drug formulary checks, smoking status, imaging results, family health history, patient list building, patient-specific educational resources, electronic prescribing, reconciliation of clinical information, incorporation of laboratory tests and values/results, immunization information, transmission to vaccination registries, transmission to public health agencies-syndromic surveillance, automated measurement calculation, a improved design for safety, a quality management system and the ability to view, download and transfer...... half of the paper.. .... the healthcare organization would like to use the minimum amount of information necessary to demonstrate your case in a court or with an insurance company. The federal government has established standards for what must be included in the EHR, but healthcare organizations must establish their own standards for what they will include in their LHR. The biggest difference between EHR and LHR is what is kept safe. Many of ONC's requirements for an electronic health record are not directly related to patient care but are related to the security 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. Instead, the information in the LHR is intended to keep your healthcare organization safe during legal disputes.