LEAWOOD, Kan. — The board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) announced today a business plan to create a not-for-profit foundation to develop and distribute an open-source electronic health record (EHR). The plan includes partnering with other medical associations who have expressed strong interest in helping establish and fund this foundation.
"Electronic health records need to be used in every physician’s office in the country, but currently available systems do not address the complex patient care provided in a family doctor’s office," says James C. Martin, M.D., president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "We’re taking the first step to remedy that by establishing a not-for-profit foundation to support development of an EHR system designed by physicians for physicians."
An electronic health record system is essential in increasing the quality of health care and improving patient safety. An EHR should contain detailed clinical notes; prescription ordering and management capability; a secure messaging system; lab and test results reporting; evidence-based health guidelines; secure and confidential patient access to health records; public health reporting and tracking system; mapping to clinical and administrative standard code sets; and the ability to interface with leading practice management software. The open-source EHR will be designed to run on PCs, Macintosh, Linux, UNIX, Palm and PocketPC hand-held devices.
"Our ultimate goal is to provide an EHR that is low-cost; has a set of simple, uniform end-user interfaces; and will support a seamless, secure exchange of clinical data between health care providers, organizations, institutions and patients. The time has come to move from theory to action on this," says David C. Kibbe, M.D., director of health information technology at the AAFP.
American Academy of Family Physicians Seeks Partners to Support Open-Source Electronic Health Record Initiative
Initiative Will Enhance the Quality and Safety of Patient Care
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Contact:
Amanda Holt
American Academy of Family Physicians
(800) 274-2237, Ext. 5223
aholt@aafp.org
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Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents 105,900 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.
Approximately one in four of all office visits are made to family physicians. That is 240 million office visits each year — nearly 87 million more than the next largest medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved and rural populations than any other medical specialty. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.
To learn more about the specialty of family medicine, the AAFP's positions on issues and clinical care, and for downloadable multi-media highlighting family medicine, visit www.aafp.org/media. For information about health care, health conditions and wellness, please visit the AAFP’s award-winning consumer Web site, www.FamilyDoctor.org.
