Global Collaboration in Open Source EHRs and Mobile Health IT to be Focus at Annual Open Source Summit

ARLINGTON, Va.--The Open Source Electronic Health Record Alliance (OSEHRA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating innovation in electronic health record software, is hosting its 3rd Annual Open Source EHR Summit next week. In the last few years, the open source approach to electronic health records (EHRs), designed to improve care and lower costs while simultaneously advancing care delivery, has gained incredible momentum in both the private and public sectors. The Summit will be held September 3-5, 2014 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in North Bethesda, MD.

“We believe it will be a must-see event for every stakeholder in the healthcare IT market.”

“OSEHRA’s goal is to drive rapid innovation in electronic health records and mobile health IT by working with a strong and growing international community of software developers, clinicians, and business leaders,” said Seong K. Mun, PhD, President and CEO of OSEHRA. “This year key community members from the U.S. Government and industry will be joined by participants from the United Kingdom, Romania, Jordan, South Korea, India, and Mexico. Our annual Summit is a chance for these individuals to come together and determine the course of the growing Open Source EHR industry and the development of the next generation of EHRs.”

The Summit will feature more than 60 eminent panelists and speakers, including government officials, health care leaders, clinical care providers and policymakers. The Plenary Keynote session will feature:

• Mr. Jim Whitehurst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat, Inc.
• Dr. Doug Fridsma, Chief Science Officer and Director of the Office of Science and Technology in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• Dr. Dan Morhaim, District 11 representative to the Maryland House of Delegates
• Mr. Stephen W. Warren, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

The conference will also provide an in-depth technical discussion venue. This year, OSEHRA and the VISTA Expertise Network will collaborate in a special technical meeting regarding the future of the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA), the electronic health record system utilized by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and other healthcare providers worldwide. Future VistA: A Technical Town Hall will be chaired by Rick Marshall, the Network’s Executive Director. “VistA remains one of the premier electronic health record systems in the world,” said Marshall, “and this session will address a number of key initiatives that will make it even more effective.” The session will be aimed at experienced VistA developers, and it will be presented in a town hall format for maximum interaction.

Another major conference topic will be an in-depth discussion of VistA Evolution, the EHR product road map developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA will present both a set of overview presentations and host an interactive panel discussion on this key initiative.

“No other healthcare IT venue provides the breadth of coverage on open source strategy, business models, technology, and architecture available at this conference,” said Mun. “We believe it will be a must-see event for every stakeholder in the healthcare IT market.”

For more information on the conference and OSEHRA, please visit summit.osehra.org or www.osehra.org.

About OSEHRA

OSEHRA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating innovation in electronic health record software and related technology. Founded in 2011, OSEHRA is a rapidly growing open source community with over 2,400 registered members representing 160+ industry, academic, and government organizations. OSEHRA supports an open, collaborative community of users, developers, and researchers engaged in advancing electronic health record software and related health information technology. OSEHRA hosts software repositories for applications such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ VistA electronic health record. OSEHRA is a member of global industry associations including the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Health Level 7 (HL7), and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE).