HIMSS Collaboration Releases Developer Code of Conduct
This week the Electronic Health Record Association (EHR Association), a collaboration of more than 40 EHR companies, announced the landmark EHR Developer Code of Conduct, developed by the Association as a reflection of its members’ commitment to supporting safe healthcare delivery, fostering continued innovation, and operating with high integrity in the market for EHR users and their patients and families.
The EHR Association’s Code of Conduct Workgroup began its efforts to develop the Code early this year, and during that process, they engaged with a number of stakeholder organizations to gain insights from a variety of perspectives. The EHR Developer Code of Conduct focuses on these topics:
- General business practices
- Patient safety
- Interoperability and data portability
- Clinical and billing documentation
- Privacy and security
- Patient engagement
Siemens Healthcare issued the following statement regarding the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Developer Code of Conduct. “The release of the EHR Developer Code of Conduct by the EHR Association is an important milestone in the maturation of the healthcare information technology industry, and we at Siemens Healthcare are proud to have supported its drafting and ratification,” said John Glaser, PhD, CEO, Siemens Healthcare, Health Services. “The Code of Conduct includes many elements that just make too much sense to be ignored and it’s my belief that Siemens and many players in this industry have already been adhering to many of these principles. Codifying these principles and providing a transparent way to show customers that companies are going to adopt them will help propel our industry’s ability to deliver safer, more effective and more interoperable solutions.”
Cerner welcomes the EHRA Code of Conduct and its recognition of commitment to key values throughout the HIT industry in areas we have a proven record embracing. Meg Marshall is a Director at Cerner and an EHRA executive committee member and chair of the EHRA Security and Policy workgroup. Read her post for Cerner on the Code of Conduct.
SRS announced that it has adopted—and fully endorses—the Code of Conduct published by EHRA. “We are proud to have played a role in the development of the Code of Conduct,” says Joseph Geretz, Chief Software Architect, SRS, who as Vice-Chair of the EHRA Certification Workgroup participated in the committee that drafted the Code of Conduct. “Although EHR vendors compete in the marketplace, we share a common commitment to advancing the quality of patient care through the adoption of information technology.”
About EHRA
The Electronic Health Record Association is a partner of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and operates as an independent organizational unit within HIMSS for companies who are EHR software solution providers. The EHR Association helps HIMSS establish its strategic direction and official positions on issues related to the electronic health record.