openEHR
Model the clinic once, store forever: archetype-based records where clinical models live outside the software.
In one line
openEHR separates clinical knowledge from software: a small, stable reference model plus clinician-authored archetypes (maximal data models for concepts like blood pressure) composed into templates — so the record outlives any application.
How it works
The two-level modelling idea: engineers build to the unchanging reference model; clinicians define and govern archetypes in open libraries (the international CKM), and local templates constrain them per form or document. Data persists in vendor-neutral repositories queried with AQL, an archetype-aware query language. Where FHIR optimises the exchange interface, openEHR optimises the persistent record — many modern architectures use both: openEHR (or similar) inside, FHIR at the edges.
Where it shows up in digital health
National and regional EHR programmes (strong adoption across parts of Europe and growing elsewhere), vendor-neutral clinical data repositories, and any project whose horizon is decades — where "the app will be replaced but the record must not die" is the requirement that picks the architecture.