[Conceptual structure of the electronic health record]

The file is the daily work tool for any physician, general practitioner or specialist. The general practitioner's must of course contribute to the quality of care for his patients, but also has to be used to communicate and exchange relevant clinical information to ensure continuity. A common structure for all the files of first line is therefore essential. For several years, Belgium has played a pioneering role in this matter and several successive working groups led to the development of a standard, which is described in this article. This one became a label and quality criterion for all electronic health records of family doctors.