Strong global uptake signals growing demand for open, interoperable digital health infrastructure vitagroup today announced that its open-source digital health platform, EHRbase, has reached a significant milestone — over 400 active subscribers in just five months since launching its open sandbox environment. The rapid uptake reflects increasing interest from healthcare innovators, developers, and system architects in building digital health solutions on open, standards-based platforms.
“The uptake has been incredible,” said Dr. Birger Haarbrandt, vitagroup’s Head of Technology Advisory & Consulting. “It confirms that there is a growing shift toward a data-first approach that places structured clinical information at the core of digital transformation. Our open source server accelerates innovation and enables the creation of an ecosystem of apps developed by different vendors based on the same data foundation.”
The uptake has been incredible. It confirms that there is a growing shift toward a data-first approach.
Dr. Birger HaarbrandtHead of Technology Advisory & Consulting, vitagroup
Why it matters?
Open platform such as vitagroup’s EHRbase offer two critical advantages, says Dr. Ian McNicoll, CEO of freshEHR Clinical Informatics and director of the openEHR Foundation: they enable rapid adoption of innovations without engineering effort, and they give healthcare providers direct control over their data models.
“Changes to the data management/API layer — for example, to support innovations like Pharmacogenetics — are model-driven,” Dr. McNicoll explains. “Updates to the Clinical Data Repository (CDR) become usable immediately, without extra database or API engineering. In contrast, typical EPR systems, even when using standards like FHIR, usually require significant rework to handle new types of clinical information.”
Updates to the Clinical Data Repository (CDR) become usable immediately, without extra database or API engineering.
Dr. Ian McNicollCEO of freshEHR Clinical Informatics and director of the openEHR Foundation
In terms of data models control, he adds: “Because model changes can be applied directly to the datastore without engineering effort, healthcare providers gain full control over their data model, a role traditionally held by the datastore provider.”
Who are EHRbase subscribers?
The subscribers represent a diverse range of profiles from different countries including Germany, the UK, the Nordics and the Netherlands. They include:
Digital health developers and solution architects
Hospitals testing next-generation health IT infrastructure
Startups building apps for clinical workflows, patient records, or care coordination
Public health bodies exploring standards-based data layers
Their primary use of EHRbase includes:
Education
Proof of Concepts
Application Development
By offering a free and accessible entry point into openEHR, vitagroup is lowering the barrier to adopt open standards — and inviting a new generation of health tech builders to work with structured, future-ready clinical data.
To support new users and promote broader adoption of openEHR, vitagroup will host a series of four live webinars starting this summer.The series is designed to provide both an introduction to openEHR and practical guidance on working with EHRbase.
