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Code of Conduct for Users of AmericanEHR Partners

Although anyone can view AmericanEHR Partners content, vendors of hardware or EMR software should use the site as a resource, but are not entitled to post responses to physician commentary. Interactive sections of the website are constantly monitored to ensure relevance of discussion items. Contributors to the Blog are asked to be constructive in their postings. The objective of AmericanEHR Partners is to foster the sharing of information to advance the adoption of Electronic Health Records. If postings are felt to be inappropriate, they will be removed, and the individual who posted the offending comment will be blocked from future postings.

The following categories of users are entitled to post comments to the AmericanEHR Blog(s) or other interactive sections of the website:

• Physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, or other clinical users of EHR systems
• Practice managers, clinic managers, or administrative staff who are users of EHR systems
• Policy makers
• Healthcare researchers
• Other individuals as approved by the executive editorial board

The following categories of users are not entitled to post comments to the AmericanEHR Blog(s) or other interactive sections of the website:

• Vendors of hardware or EMR software unless specifically invited to respond by AmericanEHR Partners
• Health IT consultants unless specifically invited to respond by AmericanEHR Partners
• Marketing agencies unless specifically invited to respond by AmericanEHR Partners
• Advertisers listing on the AmericanEHR Partner website
• Other entities as determined by the executive editorial board, based on potential or real conflicts of interest

Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy

The purpose of a Conflict of Interest disclosure is to provide readers of published content with information about the author’s interests that have the potential to influence the content they create. A standard Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Policy will apply to individuals who are selected to author Blogs; individuals who participate in the AmericanEHR Podcasts as roundtable participants or interviewed guests; individuals who submit manuscripts or opinion pieces to be considered for publication on the AmericanEHR Partners website; and Peer Reviewed articles submitted for publication.

The following represents the types of relationships that the author or submitter is required to declare under the Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy:

• Financial relationships with any entities that have a commercial interest related to the authored work including employment by the entity, payment for consulting services, honoraria, payment for preparation of the submitted work, board membership, advisory panel membership, or ownership of shares in the entity.
• Financial relationships involving the submitter’s spouse, partner, or children under the age of 18 years.
• Individuals may declare any other conflicts of interest including personal, professional, or institutional conflicts.
• If no conflicts of interest exist, individuals shall provide a “no-conflict” declaration

Special Considerations for Users of EHRs

It is clearly recognized that certain contributors/authors may be users of EHRs:

• As users, there may be a natural tendency to submit articles based upon their individual experiences with one or more EHR systems.
• Postings or content submitted by users of EHRs should be non-promotional in nature and should focus on principles of use rather than functionality related to their specific EHR.
• Articles or submissions that denigrate another vendor’s product or promote a specific vendor’s product or service shall not appear on the AmericanEHR Partners website.