Patients’ charts once hung at the feet of their hospital beds, and their purpose was to serve as the record of care for a particular patient. Now, electronic health records (EHRs) have several functions and serve many stakeholders’ interests. This theme issue investigates which kinds of work EHRs should do—and for whom—and whose interests EHRs should serve when information is entered, organized, reviewed, responded to, extracted, or amended. This issue also investigates which values should inform EHR stewardship and innovation decisions and from whose perspectives the stakes of those decisions should be framed.

Background image by Sara Gironi Carnevale.