Primary Health Care EMR Minimum Data Set

The pan-Canadian Primary Health Care EMR Minimum Data Set, Version 1.1 (2022) presents 47 core data elements and 58 supplementary data elements. When implemented in point-of-care systems and/or used for an aggregated minimum data set, the standard will enable the generation of comparable primary health care EMR data and support performance measurement for clinical and health system use — including clinical program management, health system management, research and population health monitoring.

This content standard is an essential component to improving data standardization and comparability of primary health care data. Version 1.1 defines a focused set of primary health care EMR data elements and associated code systems to guide the creation of a comparable set of primary health care EMR data for performance measurement across Canada. The primary health care data standard was informed through input from members of the pan-Canadian Primary Health Care Standards and Data Working Group, clinicians, Canada Health Infoway and other organizations.