KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 11 -- For a patient visiting a hospital where electronic medical records are already in use, much of the paperwork that has traditionally accompanied a trip to a government hospital can now happen behind a screen.

Registration is recorded electronically, appointments are managed through the hospital's information system, and doctors can retrieve a patient's medical information without having to wait for a physical folder to arrive from another department.

The idea behind an electronic medical record (EMR) is straightforward: instead of a patient's medical history being stored primarily in paper files, the information is recorded and managed digitally, allowing authorised healthcare personnel to retrieve it when needed...