Today, we’re launching something important for the future of open-source healthcare: our campaign to fund OpenEMR’s certification for 2025.
CONTRIBUTE NOW. Learn more about certification on the OpenEMR wiki.
Introducing: Support • Empower • Innovate
Join Us in Funding OpenEMR’s 2025 ONC Certification
The goal: $200,000
The deadline: December 31, 2025
The mission: Keep healthcare open, accessible and free from vendor lock-in
CONTRIBUTE NOW. Learn more about certification on the OpenEMR wiki.
Why This Matters
Every day, thousands of healthcare practices around the world use OpenEMR to deliver quality patient care. From solo practitioners in rural communities to multi-provider clinics in urban centers, OpenEMR provides the freedom to practice medicine without the constraints—or costs—of proprietary EMR systems.
But that freedom isn’t automatic. It requires ASTP/ONC (Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT) certification.
What Is ONC Certification?
ONC certification ensures that healthcare IT systems meet federal standards for interoperability, security, and functionality. Without it, practices can’t:
- Participate in MIPS and other federal quality programs
- Exchange data seamlessly with hospitals, labs, and pharmacies
- Meet federal compliance requirements
- Access many integration capabilities that modern healthcare demands
In short, ONC certification isn’t optional—it’s essential for any practice using an electronic health record system.
The Challenge We Face
Meeting ONC certification requirements is a substantial undertaking. The 2025 certification includes:
- AI and Decision Support Transparency: Implementing disclosure requirements for predictive algorithms and clinical decision support
- USCDI Version 3 Support: Expanding data elements to include enhanced patient demographics and social determinants of health
- Enhanced Interoperability: Improving FHIR APIs and bulk data access capabilities
- Real World Testing: Ongoing validation and performance reporting
- Information Blocking Compliance: Ensuring transparent data access policies
Each of these requirements demands extensive development work, comprehensive testing, detailed documentation, and certification submission fees. The total investment needed: $200,000.
This is where the OpenEMR community comes in.
Support • Empower • Innovate
Our campaign theme isn’t just a tagline—it’s how open source works.
CONTRIBUTE NOW. Learn more about certification on the OpenEMR wiki.
SUPPORT: The Foundation
When you contribute to OpenEMR certification, you’re supporting something much bigger than software compliance. You’re supporting:
- Thousands of independent practices maintaining control over their systems
- Healthcare providers serving underserved communities who can’t afford corporate EMR costs
- The principle that quality healthcare IT shouldn’t require vendor lock-in
- A competitive alternative that keeps the entire EMR market honest
Corporate EMR companies charge individual practices $50,000 to $500,000 or more for setup and implementation. We’re asking our entire global community to contribute $200,000 total. Collective participation is the power of open source.
EMPOWER: The Work
Your support empowers our development team to meet ONC requirements without compromising OpenEMR’s open-source principles. Community funding means:
- Developers work for the community, not corporate shareholders
- Features are built based on practitioner needs, not profit motives
- The codebase remains open and auditable
- Innovation happens transparently
We’re not asking developers to work for free or on speculation. We’re funding the actual work required to meet certification standards—approximately 2,000 hours of specialized development, testing, and documentation.
INNOVATE: The Future
Certification isn’t just about compliance—it’s the platform for innovation. When OpenEMR achieves 2025 ONC certification, it unlocks:
- AI Transparency Features: Practitioners will finally see how clinical algorithms make decisions, including source data, risk scores, and bias metrics
- Enhanced Data Exchange: USCDI v3 brings better patient demographics, social determinants of health data, and improved care coordination
- Patient Empowerment: Enhanced APIs enable patients to control their own health data and use third-party applications
- Sustainable Open Source: Proving that community-funded development can compete at enterprise scale
These aren’t just technical improvements—they’re capabilities that transform how healthcare is delivered.
Who This Campaign Serves
Individual Practitioners
If you use OpenEMR in your practice, certification directly impacts your ability to:
- Stay compliant with federal requirements
- Participate in quality improvement programs
- Exchange data with other healthcare providers
- Serve your patients effectively
OpenEMR Vendors and Integrators
Your business model depends on certified OpenEMR. Your clients need compliant systems. Your integrations require a certified platform. This campaign protects your foundation.
Healthcare Organizations
Whether you’re a free clinic, community health center, or multi-site practice, OpenEMR certification means you can deliver quality care without the crushing costs of proprietary systems.
The Broader Healthcare Community
Even if you don’t currently use OpenEMR, you benefit from its existence. Open-source alternatives keep the entire EMR market competitive, preventing monopolistic pricing and promoting innovation across the industry.
How You Can Help
Between now and December 31, 2025, we’ll be working toward this goal together. Visit our donation page to support at any level, and forward this post to colleagues who value open-source healthcare. Every dollar goes directly to certification work: development, testing, documentation, and fees. Throughout the campaign, we’ll provide:
- Progress updates on fundraising and development work
- Technical deep-dives on certification requirements
- Stories from practices that depend on OpenEMR
- Transparent reporting on how funds are used
This isn’t just about meeting a regulatory requirement. It’s about proving that community-funded, open-source healthcare IT can work at scale. It’s about maintaining competition in a market that desperately needs alternatives to corporate monopolies. It’s about keeping healthcare accessible for practices of all sizes.
CONTRIBUTE NOW. Learn more about certification on the OpenEMR wiki.
Thank you,
OpenEMR Foundation