How have you contributed to the development of health informatics standards, and what was one lesson learned from that process?

I had a hand in health informatics standards – specifically, as a subject-matter expert in a working group that produced technical guidelines for data interoperability among electronic health records (EHRs). One thing I learned was that standardisation efforts are sunk without buy-in from EHR vendors, clinicians, IT professionals and patients. Not only had the standards been enriched, the same co-creation method eased implementation by helping stakeholders ensure that the guidelines became their guidelines. In this way, informatics standards have recognised that robust, sustainable standards can be enhanced through informatics themselves, and through active involvement of those who must use them in day-to-day practice.