What is openEHR?
openEHR is an open standard for storing and sharing health data, so that a patient’s record can last a lifetime and outlive any single piece of software. It’s developed by a non-profit foundation and a global community of clinicians and engineers.
Three ideas at the heart of openEHR
openEHR publishes technical standards for an electronic health record (EHR) platform, along with clinical models that define what goes into it. Everything else follows from three ideas.
A lifelong, shared record
One patient-centric record that everyone involved in someone’s care can contribute to and rely on, across organisations and over a whole lifetime.
Data that outlives software
Data is stored in a vendor-neutral format, separate from the applications that use it. Replace an app and the data stays exactly where it is, fully meaningful.
Clinicians define the content
Domain experts, not IT developers, decide how clinical information is structured. Software then adapts to the models, not the other way round.
How openEHR works
openEHR separates the technical foundation from the clinical content. This “multi-level modelling” approach is what lets clinicians shape systems directly and keeps data interoperable by design.
- Reference modelA small, stable set of generic structures that every openEHR system shares, defined in the openEHR specifications.
- ArchetypesReusable definitions of clinical concepts, such as a blood pressure reading or a medication order, built and reviewed by clinicians in the Clinical Knowledge Manager.
- TemplatesArchetypes combined and tailored for a specific use, such as a discharge summary or an antenatal visit, using openEHR modelling tools.
- ApplicationsSoftware built on templates, reading and writing data through a standard REST API and querying it with AQL. Build on openEHR.
Why organisations choose openEHR
- Domain professionals, not IT developers, directly define the content of the solutions they use.
- Low-code tools make application development fast.
- Interoperability is a natural outcome of the platform architecture, not an add-on.
- A platform approach means flexible, incremental procurement from a market of components.
We’re open for…
openEHR works differently for different people. Choose the one that fits you best.
openEHR for patients
openEHR makes a single, lifelong health record possible: one that follows you across hospitals, GP practices and community services instead of being split between systems.
Where services support it, patients can add their own data from their own devices, view their record and decide who else can see it, including carers and family. That makes a real difference in long-term and community care, such as pregnancy, cancer care and chronic illness.
openEHR for clinicians
openEHR’s clinical models are written by clinicians, not IT departments. Healthcare professionals from nearly 100 countries build and review them together, and every model is published openly.
Because everyone involved in a patient’s care works from the same shared record, multidisciplinary teams can spot risks earlier, keep treatment continuous, hand over smoothly and stop duplicating work. The goal is simple: less clinical workload and better outcomes for patients.
openEHR for researchers
openEHR data is structured, consistent and patient-centric, and it’s stored independently of the applications that created it. Research teams start with a clean, homogeneous resource and can focus on their questions rather than on data wrangling.
You can query everything in one standard format through open APIs and the Archetype Query Language (AQL), and use a single controlled source for extraction to OMOP, REDCap, R and custom formats.
openEHR for developers
With openEHR, data is independent of any single application, so you can compare data from many sources and deliver what customers need quickly. Open source and commercial openEHR platforms are both available.
Low-code tools let non-developers build forms and applications. For more advanced work there are form builders, AQL and the openEHR REST API. You can model external systems and international standards for easy import and export, and bind international and local terminologies to your models.
openEHR for professional colleges
openEHR gives medical, nursing and allied health colleges and associations a community and a technical framework for turning care guidelines into computable guidelines that run inside operational systems.
Colleges use it to develop care guidelines and standards, data sets and research projects that can be put straight into practice.
openEHR for healthcare providers
Tired of limited procurement options and data locked in silos? openEHR sets the standard for an open, vendor-neutral health record platform, and publishes its specifications and clinical models freely under open licences.
That means you can procure platform components step by step (clinical data repository, terminology, registry and access control) and choose API-conformant applications from multiple suppliers.
Where openEHR is used
From national health programs to single hospitals and research networks, openEHR runs in live healthcare settings around the world.
- Deployments
Who is using openEHR, what they’ve built and where.
- Affiliates
National and regional openEHR communities, such as openEHR Norway, Brasil, Spain and Life Sciences.
- Industry partners
Companies that build, integrate and support openEHR solutions.
- Organisation partners
Health services, governments, universities and professional bodies using openEHR.
Who runs openEHR
openEHR International is a non-profit foundation, established in 2003 to build an open, vendor-neutral platform for electronic health records and computable clinical and research data. Its work is guided by three principles: technical rigour, clinical engagement and trust.
Our vision is a world in which healthcare routinely benefits from lifelong, patient-centric records and computable health data, with a trusted balance between privacy and appropriate sharing.
- Governance
The board, how decisions are made and how members take part.
- Clinical Program Board
Oversees the clinical models and the editorial process behind them.
- Specifications program
The Specifications Editorial Committee (SEC) and how the standard evolves.
- Education program
Training, recognised educators and learning resources.
- Software program
Open source software and tooling for the community.
- Origins
Where openEHR came from and the research behind it.
- History
Two decades of openEHR, milestone by milestone.
- Policies
Licensing, IP and organisational policies.
- Logos and trademarks
How to use the openEHR name and logo.
Go deeper
- Specifications
The full technical standard, free to read and implement.
- Clinical Knowledge Manager
Browse and review the international library of clinical models.
- Research library on Zotero
Papers, theses and articles about openEHR.
- Learn openEHR
Courses and recognised educators worldwide.
Explained on the blog
- The science of clinical modeling using openEHR
The fundamentals of clinical modelling, explained by Anselm Iwuanyanwu.
- From proof of concept to a reusable blueprint
How openEHR and HL7 FHIR work together in Switzerland.
- IHE and the openEHR Plugathon
Where IHE profiles and openEHR models fit together.
- Making archetype work easier
A Fellowship project that helps people find and reuse archetypes.
Ready for the next step?
Build on openEHR
Specifications, shared clinical models, platforms and tools for building health software that lasts.
Join openEHR
Become a member or partner, take part in our programs and meet the global community.