Membership Framework
Fundamental Principles of Membership
We have established several fundamental principles of Membership for Open Health
Tools (OHT) these include:

All Members are equal.

Keep the barriers to entry low.

Inclusiveness: Every individual and organization, which abides by the governance
of OHT and supports the vision, is invited and encouraged to participate.

Open and transparent: With a commitment to integrity and trust of all Members,
OHT will be open and transparent to safeguard the trust of all stakeholders

The OHT governance is specified in the Membership Agreement and associated
By-laws. Every Member completes these documents to assure all Members play
by the same rules. This builds and maintains the trust of all stakeholders and helps
to stimulate innovation.

All participation in OHT is voluntary and is based upon a contributory model.

The stakeholders and Members of OHT are based upon a diversity principle.
Open Health Tools is dedicated to building, enabling, and nurturing, a global
community of the rich and poor, of the urban and rural, of the large and the small,
organizations, institutions and individuals.
Contribution Model
As stated in the Membership Application, as a Member, you have agreed that you or your
organization can make substantial contributions – which can be intangibles (time,
knowledge, industry expertise, etc.) and/or tangibles (technology, funds, etc.) – to Open
Health Tools to achieve the Vision. These contributions are strictly voluntary.
The Board has set recommended minimum annual voluntary contributions according to
the table below:
Organization Classification
Individual Membership
Organization of 1-5 employees
Organization of 6-50 employees
Organization of 51 – 500 employees
Organization of 501-2,500 employees
Organization of >2,500 employees
Lifetime Benefactor of any size
Strategic Member
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Suggested Minimum
Annual Voluntary Dues
$50.00
200.00
$1500.00
$5000.00
$7500.00
$10,000.00
$50,000.00+
Negotiable
It must be noted that the monetary contributions provides a portion of the operating
expenses of the OHT infrastructure. However, no penalties shall be applied to a Member
who fails to meet its contribution pledge. Each organization’s contribution will be
accepted based upon the principle of trust. There will be no public accounting of the
contributions. It is not necessary to be a Member to contribute to the Projects of OHT. All
projects are open to one and all and will be governed by the projects individual charters.
Member Status
OHT Founding Members are those organizations that paid annual Membership dues
before December 31, 2011. These organizations receive Founding Member status,
including their logo on the Founding Members webpage. In addition, several
organizations contributed in excess of $50,000 as part of the early fund raising
contributions. In recognition of this effort, these organizations are granted a Life Time
Membership Status.
Membership Governance
The Vice President of Strategic Relations and Initiatives has the ultimate authority over
this domain. All decisions are informed by the OHT Leadership Team and Membership
Committee, but ultimate authority resides with the OHT Board acting through their
representative the Vice President of Strategic Relations and Initiatives.
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The Open Health Membership Agreement and By-laws establishes the following policies
concerning dues and contributions:
Section 2.1 General. Membership is open to those persons or entities who can
make substantial contributions in terms of time, technology, knowledge, or industry
expertise to the Open Health Tools Vision. Members will be extended additional
privileges in Open Health Tools not available to the general community.
Section 2.2 Processes. To be a Member, a person or entity must complete a
written membership application in such form as shall be adopted by the Open Health
Tools Board of Stewards (the “Board”), including a description of the contribution that
the Member plans on providing to Open Health Tools. Members are approved for
admission by a majority vote of the Board, based on the Membership Committee’s
recommendation. After Board approval, Membership shall only become effective once
the applicant has executed the Membership Agreement in such form as shall be adopted
by the Board.
Section 2.3 Contributions. The Board shall, from time-to-time, establish
mechanisms by which Members may support Open Health Tools activities. Such
mechanisms may include, without limitation, voluntary Membership fees, sponsorship
fees, promotional fees, administration fees, software contributions, and in-kind
contribution levels. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Membership in Open Health Tools is
on an “as is” basis, without warranties or conditions of any kind. No penalties shall be
applied to a Member who fails to meet its contribution pledge.
Section 2.4 Terminations. The Board may decide to terminate the Membership of
any Member, “For Cause”, through a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote at a Board meeting.
For purposes of this Section 2.3 “For Cause” shall mean the Member has materially
breached the Membership Agreement, Bylaws, IP Policy, Antitrust Policy, a software
license for any software the Member acquired from Open Health Tools and/or other
related Open Health Tools agreements or policies, and has not cured such breach within
thirty (30) days of receipt of written notice from Open Health Tools.
In order to terminate the Membership of any Member, written notification, including a
rationale for termination, must be provided to said Member no less than twenty (20)
business days prior to the Board meeting in which the termination vote is to be held. The
participating Member will have the opportunity to comment, in writing or in person at the
Board meeting where the termination is being discussed. The decision of the Board shall
be final. In the case of such a decision, the Secretary of the Board will send the Member a
signed, written notice stating that the Member’s Membership Agreement has been
terminated.
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Open Health Tools Membership Typology with rights, responsibilities, and privileges
Membership Class
Member Stewards
Qualifications Necessary
1) Agrees to support the following vision:
“The Vision of Open Health Tools, Inc. (“Open
Health Tools” ) is to enable a ubiquitous
ecosystem where members of the Health and IT
professions can collaborate to build
interoperable systems that enable patients and
their care providers to have access to vital and
reliable medical information at the time and
place it is needed.”
2) Complete a written membership application
3) Make voluntary support contributions which may
include, without limitation, voluntary membership fees,
sponsorship fees, promotional fees, administration fees,
software contributions, and in-kind contribution levels.
Contributions are on an “as is” basis, without warranties
or conditions of any kind. No penalties shall be applied
to a Member who fails to meet its contribution pledge.
4) Commit to publicly announce you are joining Open
Health Tools, Inc. The exact time, venue, and form of
the announcement is up to each Member.
Voting Rights and Privileges
Each Member Stewart has one vote.
Appoint representative to Executive Committee
Join and / or appoint representative to:
 Member of Finance Committee
 Requirements Council
 Architecture Council
 Planning Council
 Medical Council
 Marketing Committee
 Legal Committee
 Membership Committee
Participate in Development Projects
Approves Release Roadmap
Approves Top Level Projects
Hires & fires Executive Director
Approves Open Health Tools management budget
Approves formal affiliations
Selects legal counsel, IP, & Antitrust policy
Terminates and reinstates Members
Approves Bylaws & Membership Agreement
Approves Vision
Participates in Project reviews
Can act as OpenHealthIT Spokesperson
Committer
Stewards
1) Software developer individuals that are involved in
the development of the Open Health Tools technology
2) Individuals who have been selected by their projects
as having sufficient skill to join the projects as a
committer.
3) Nomination must be confirmed by a vote of the
Committers or the Board.
4) Express public support for Open Health Tools
--- One or more Committers shall be associated with each Project.
--- Write-access to Open Health Tools repositories; --- Write code for
Open Health Tools software projects;
--- Committers can vote in the selection process for other committers
on their project. shall be entitled to at least one (1) seat on the Board
(and such representative shall represent the entire class). An additional
seat on the Board shall be allocated to the Committer Stewards for
every additional five (5) Member Stewards beyond five (5) who are
members of the Board. The Committer Stewards shall be selected via
annual-at-large elections by the Committers using the Single
Transferable Vote process.
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Membership Class
Project Lead
Stewards.
Qualifications Necessary
Project Management Skills
Voting Rights and Privileges
--- Project Leads as a class, shall be entitled to at least one (1) seat on
the Board (and such representative shall represent the entire class). An
additional seat on the Board shall be allocated to the Project Lead
Stewards for every additional five (5) Member Stewards beyond five
(5) who are members of the Board. The Project Lead Stewards shall
be selected via annual-at-large elections by the Project Leads using the
Single Transferable Vote process.
--- For each Project, the Board will appoint a Project Lead, which can
be changed by a majority vote of the Board.
--- The Project Lead will set the ground rules and procedures for the
day-to-day management of the Project in accordance with the charter
for the Project.
Associates
Stewards
Associates shall represent areas of technical, academic,
or business disciplines complementary to the Vision
--- Associates. may be nominated by any Steward or the Executive
Director , and must be approved by a majority vote of the Board
---Associates may participate in meetings and deliberations of the
Board but are not entitled to a vote at those meetings unless the
Associate is also a Steward.
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