Update: Now 23 Vendors...

Seventeen electronic health record developers have adopted an industry trade group's EHR Developer Code of Conduct, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 3/10).

Background on Code of Conduct

The Electronic Health Record Association released the code of conduct in June 2013.

It addresses issues, such as:

• Documentation;
• Interoperability;
• Patient engagement;
• Patient safety; and
• Privacy and security.

Although EHRA -- which represents more than 40 EHR vendors -- approved the code of conduct last year, it is up to individual firms to adopt it (iHealthBeat, 6/11/13).

Specifically, the code of conduct requires developers to:

• Adopt national interoperability standards;
• Follow business practices to protect patient privacy and promote patient engagement;
• Participate in at least one patient safety organization; and
• Share best practices for the safe implementation and use of their products.

Details of Adoption

The EHR developers that have adopted the code are:

• Allscripts;
• athenahealth;
• Cerner;
• CPSI;
• Epic Systems;
• Foothold Technology;
• GE Healthcare;
• Greenway Medical Technologies;
• MacPractice;
• MEDHOST;
• MEDITECH;
• Modernizing Medicine;
• NextGen Healthcare;
• Practice Fusion;
• Siemens;
• SRSsoft; and
• Versasuite.

In a news release, EHRA Chair Mickey McGlynn said that the organizations' decision to adopt the code shows their "ongoing commitment to collaborate as trusted partners with customers and the industry" (Modern Healthcare, 3/10).