Membership FAQ

We have assembled a set of FAQs to provide an overview of the Membership Process for Open Health Tools. We would be happy to hear from you if you have additional questions – both to provide you with the answers if we can, and to flesh out our FAQs. Please send questions or comments to membership@openhealthtools.org or visit the membership section of our bulletin board.

1. What kinds of organizations are joining Open Health Tools?

  • Individuals who want access to their health information when and where they want it in a secure and private way.
  • A community of National, Regional & Local Health Services Providers, who recognize that a common interoperable platform and exemplary tools for medical records is essential to meet the needs of patients, physicians, providers, payers as well as policy makers.
  • A community of health professionals, who collaborate in providing the requirements for technology and interoperable information systems to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of human health and well-being.
  • A community of Open Standards Organizations, who collaborate to provide standards and specifications for health interoperability.
  • A community of Open Source Developers, focused on developing a Health Information Platform of frameworks, exemplary tools and reference applications.
  • A community of vendors, who utilize the Open Health Technology to create wealth, increase profit and market share, while providing expertise and assets to the community. (Open Health Tools is a vendor neutral and vendor friendly environment.)
  • A community of academic and researchers, who bring their experiences, research, ideas and wisdom to provide innovation and evaluation of health information to improve the health and well-being of people.
The complete list of Members is available here.

2. How are you organized?
Open Health Tools, Inc. is formed as a nonprofit trade association, as set out in section 501(c)(6) of the US Internal Revenue Code. The basic organization is managed by a team led by an Executive Director, a Chief Technology Officer, and a Chief Health Informatics Officer. There is a strong Board of Stewards. There is an Architecture Council, Requirements Council and a Clinical Councils which have management oversight responsibilities for the architecture, planning and implementation. This management structure is to facilitate and enable the design, development and deployment of the Open Health Technology.

3. Can you describe the Board in more detail?
The Board of Stewards is responsible for policies, behavior, plans, priorities, technology plans and directions. The Board is empowered to adopt rules and regulations governing the action of the Board and Open Health Tools. The Board will approve each the charter for each Charter Project and review the major strategies to achieve the vision of Open Health Tools.

4. Who is represented on the Board?
The Board contains one representative (Steward) from each member.

5. What are the benefits of membership?
Stewards listed the greatest benefits associated with OHT membership as:

  • Shared development infrastructure and tools, allowing members to contribute on a higher order value
  • Ability to network
  • Ability to share ideas and improve solutions
  • Access to smart people who understand open source
  • Improved access to open source projects and technology
  • Ability to obtain new ideas
In return for paying membership dues, our members would like the following:
  • Seat on the OHT Board of Stewards
  • Voting privileges on project reviews, membership participation, and Bylaws
  • Ability to participate in OHT projects, workgroups, and Councils
  • Logo placement on OHT website
  • Ability to use OHT logo and name in press releases (with OHT permission)
  • Discounts for OHT-related conferences
  • Direct access to the OHT Leadership
  • Access to CollabNet
  • Ability to sponsor OHT events with attribution

6. How much does it cost to become a member of Open Health Tools?
At the May 2011 Open Health Tools Board Meeting, a unanimous vote established a new tiered-membership and dues structure. Led by OHT members, the Contribution Model Committee created a model based on input from the OHT members. It was agreed that members may pay up to five years in advance.

Membership Payment Structure:

Organization Classification Amount
Individual Membership - No Voting Rights $250.00
Organization of 1-50 employees $3200.00
Organization of 51 – 500 employees $5000.00
Organization of 501-2,500 employees $7500.00
Organization of >2,500 employees $10,000.00
For your convenience, we have prepared a document that will allow us to customize an invoice for your membership dues [Download (.docx)]. Please ensure that you provide us with the name and address for the person/department responsible for processing the invoice.

7. What if, for some reason, we can't make good on our promised contribution?
We do not require a legal commitment that binds you to making the contributions. We are interested in companies making contributions that are in their self-interest – such as contributing programmers to the development of a software component that is of particular value to the company. In this way, we see that companies will have a strong incentive to make good on their pledges.

8. Would we need to have a representative at each Board meeting?
We understand that travel and time constraints can make this difficult. However, our Bylaws require a 50% quorum at meetings. So, to make it easier to attend, we permit:

  • The appointment of an Alternate to represent your Steward.
  • The issuing of a proxy to the Steward from another company who could attend and vote on your behalf
  • Participation by conference call or similar facility.

9. If we assign some staff members to work on a Project, where will they work, who will they report to?
Developers working on a Project may work anywhere they have access to a broadband internet connection. They will become integral elements of the development process (see Committer Contributor FAQs) where the development work will be coordinated by the Project Lead.

10. How do I actually become a member?
It's quite simple. We do have a formal process for OHT membership. It is designed to have low barriers of entry, but it is also to assure all members execute the same agreements and therefore all are governed by the same rules.

The Membership Process:

  1. Please fill out the Membership Application.
  2. Please sign the Membership Agreement.
  3. Please sign the Logo Agreement.
  4. Please scan the documents above and fax them to 01-828-707-9508.
  5. We will countersign the logo agreement and return it to you.
  6. We will process your application. If there are any questions, we will get back to you. We will have to put a vote to the Board, either at the next meeting of the Board, or through a special vote, so this process may take a month or two. Feel free to contact membership to enquire as to the status of your application.

11. Do I need to be a member to download the software?
No. Anyone who agrees to the Open Health Tools website Terms of Use may download any software. The software will be subject to the license that is indicated in the download.

12. Do I need to be a member if I want to contribute software?
No – but you do have to register so that we know who you are. There are more details on contributing software and the role of Committers at the Committer Contributor FAQ site.


13. If your membership question is not answered above or you need additional information, please contact us at membership@openhealthtools.org.

Please view the Open Health Tools Terms and Conditions of Use here.