Are you looking for ways to engage in OpenHIE? In this blog, we will provide some background and context to describe the work of OpenHIE and highlight ways in which you can participate in the community.
The History of OpenHIE
The OpenHIE community of practice formed in 2013, evolving from the work that initially began in 2009 to establish the Rwandan Health Information Exchange (RHIE). Today, OpenHIE’s approaches, reference technologies, and community processes are being leveraged and explored in multiple countries. More about the background of this community and of health information exchange is shared here.
Alongside the guiding principles, the heart of OpenHIE is in the community’s architecture patterns, implementations, and community. This community is made up primarily of volunteers building an open framework to support nations as they develop health information exchanges (HIEs) to improve patient care, public health, and the management of health resources. To participate in OpenHIE is to join in on the community process, contribute to work within the architecture, or to start an implementation specific to your community—as well as finding overlap in these work streams. We can only succeed when we work together.
Get Started
If you are looking for a way to be a part of the process, we recommend the following steps:
- Add your name and email to our mailing list. We’ll keep you updated on important meetings and happenings in the community.
- Sign up and introduce yourself to the community forum. This is where discussions happen publicly to reach reusable solutions as well as where questions can be asked and answered.
- Join and contribute to community calls. Our wiki lists all of the OHIE sub-communities that are open for all to participate in. We definitely recommend the OpenHIE Implementers Network (OHIN) as a great starting point. The OHIN call is open to everyone and provides a forum for implementers to engage with one another while interacting with the OpenHIE community as well.
Dig Deeper
Are you not-so-new to OpenHIE but would like to increase the ways you work with this community? There are plenty of avenues to do just that! (We recommend checking out all the above methods in case you haven’t explored all those options just yet).
- Share an Impact Story. We’re always looking for ways to highlight projects that utilize the OpenHIE architecture to contribute to better healthcare across the globe. Fill out or circulate this survey to share details about an implementation.
- Participate in the Academy to help steer the direction of the free online learning platform, including creating a course!
- Write a blog post for the website. Share your perspective on a topic related to OpenHIE or in the world of health information exchange.
- Present on a sub-community call. Work with a community lead to share on an upcoming call – we can help by marketing your presentation and distributing it via a call recording to the wider OHIE community following the meeting.
The list could go on! What is most important is to find the intersection of where OpenHIE can meet you and your needs. We hope the above information is helpful in achieving that. We also welcome you to contact us with questions or to post on the community forum with any ideas you would like to share!
Would you like to read this blog in Spanish? Check out a translated version of this blog post on one of our partner organizations, RECAINSA's website: BIENVENIDOS A OPENHIE: COMPROMETERSE Y COMENZAR A TRABAJAR HACIA EL INTERCAMBIO DE INFORMACIÓN EN SALUD