2024 openEHR conference series
Interview at EHRCON24 5th November 2024, Reading, UK
Alex Vidrean
Decentralising Clinical Data Ownership with OpenEHR EHRbase: Implementation of OpenEHR Specifications
Alex Vidrean is the Product Owner for EHRbase, the open-source implementation of the OpenEHR specifications, and collaborates with the German company Vitagroup to maintain EHRbase and develop the Health Intelligence Platform CDR.
He has overseen the deployment of EHRbase in major initiatives, including the NUM Codex COVID-19 research platform in Germany and the unified data platform for Catalonia serving 7.5 million inhabitants.
Interview summary
Alex is a product owner for EHRbase at Vita Group, coming from a Java development background. His perspective is technical and practical - he is drawn to openEHR and EHRbase because they address a real-world problem with open tools that anyone can see, use, and contribute to.
His core argument for open-source is not primarily about cost, though accessibility matters. The deeper value is transparency and community: a closed system builds behind closed doors and hopes the result solves something; an open system receives real feedback from real users encountering real problems, allowing development effort to focus on what actually matters. A backlog full of issues from users is, he notes, a good sign - it means people are engaging and trying to build things.
On the openEHR ecosystem more broadly, he is candid that it remains less well known than alternatives such as FHIR, and that growing awareness is the work that conferences like this one do. His wish for the future is direct: policymakers need to pay attention, pick up these standards, and require their use. The technology exists; what is missing is the policy mandate that would make adoption the default rather than the exception.