OpenEHR (open Electronic Health Record) is the name of a healthcare technology consisting of open specifications, clinical models and software that can be used to create standards and build interoperable solutions for healthcare. IT systems underpinned by openEHR technology store patient records in a standards-based Clinical Data Repository (CDR).

Here are my top 7 reasons why the NHS needs openEHR technology more than ever before in its history:

1. Integrated care

The NHS is composed of many hospitals, GPs, ICBs and more, each using different IT systems. It is often the case that these systems do not communicate effectively with one other, due to technical or commercial reasons, leading to fragmented patient records. Numerous attempts have been made over the decades to improve IT system connectivity.

An openEHR architecture shifts the design focus to be data-centric over application-centric. This approach reduces the need for complex bi-directional integrations between systems and organisations, which in turn accelerates data sharing between care settings such as social care, VCSEs, and private providers.

2. AI readiness  

The hype around AI in the NHS is driven by its potential to revolutionise healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes. However, AI is only as good as the data it receives and is trained upon, “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. If training data is inaccurate then AI models learn incorrect patterns and have an inherent inaccuracy.

With openEHR, data is modelled with very high accuracy. This enables advanced AI and decision support tools to be trained effectively. OpenEHR data sets include detailed records of data sources, including how and when data was collected, by default to ensure full traceability and data provenance.

3. Data quality

Many NHS organisations rely on IT systems that were developed in the 90s and 2000s. These outdated systems often lack the necessary data design that today’s clinical and research initiatives require. This has led to low clinical data quality across the healthcare system.

OpenEHR uses standardised data models called archetypes and templates that are co-created with clinicians. This ensures that the health data captured is collected and stored is a consistent way, and that it is of high quality and structured appropriately for care pathways and clinical outcomes.

4. Ethics and transparency

Patients have limited visibility over what data is used once it enters the NHS system, including concerns about data being shared with third parties. The complexity of the exiting IT landscape and number of data sharing agreements can make it difficult for patients to make informed decisions about their data.

The vendor-neutral structure of the openEHR eco-system means that data models can be published transparently by system vendors and healthcare providers, enabling patients and organisations to see what data is being stored. This helps ensure that patients are fully informed about how their data will be used and can make informed consent decisions.

5. Data sovereignty

Vendor lock-in in the NHS is common. Many NHS organisations are dependent on a single supplier for healthcare IT systems, making it difficult to switch to another provider without substantial cost or inconvenience. This has caused many NHS organisations to extend/sweat the use of outdated systems.

OpenEHR-based IT systems ensure that the clinical data is stored separately from applications in a Clinical Data Repository (CDR), freeing health data from vendor control. It means that NHS organisations can switch applications without the need for costly data migrations. The openEHR standard also defines how this data can be stored and retrieved, meaning even the underlying  CDR can be changed with minimal effort.

6. Research  

Handling research data in the NHS involves navigating various ethical, legal, and practical challenges. Clarifying data ownership can be complex, especially when data is collected across multiple institutions. Maintaining public trust in how the NHS handles research data is critical.

By using a common set of definitions and structures, openEHR ensures that data from different sources is comparable and meaningful. As openEHR is an internationally recognised standard, it facilitates international research collaborations by ensuring data compatibility across different countries and healthcare systems.

7. Innovation  

Integrating new digital tools with existing systems requires significant effort and expertise, which is a significant barrier to innovation. Clinical data is predominately closed, inaccessible, or requires waiting in a 12-month queue (that never gets any shorter).

OpenEHR data is stored separately from applications in a dedicated Clinical Data Repository (CDR). These CDRs expose open APIs that enables any clinical data to be queried, with the correct fine-grained permissions enabled. This significantly reduces the barriers that innovators face when deploying and collaborating with NHS organisations because the specification is in the public domain.

In summary, openEHR technology and standards offer a robust approach for improving the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of healthcare organisations in the NHS. Adopting this architecture and separating the application layer from the data layer offers significant benefits to NHS and healthcare organisations.

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