OpenEMR and OpenMRS
For the hospital’s medical records system, I have two open-source software packages under consideration. First impressions:
- OpenMRS is installed widely throughout the developing world, and is backed by powerhouses like Paul Farmer’s PIH and the Gates Foundation. This software seems to be tailored for collecting very structured data on a limited set of patient encounters. On the plus side, this means that large-scale analysis of the data is possible, but at the cost of inflexibility and high cost of implementation if there are many types of interactions that need to be tracked.
- OpenEMR, on the other hand, is a comprehensive software package aimed at general practice medical facilities. It has all kinds of features that are missing in OpenMRS like billing and appointment scheduling. On the other hand, I worry that the custom forms that I can design with it won’t be suited to the reporting and analysis that we need and that OpenMRS makes easy.
I’m not sure where we’ll land, on the balance. In any case, progress has been slow and frustrating. Any unanticipated file (say, XAMPP, at 28MB) can delay installation for a day…
Update (9/6): I’m moving forward with OpenMRS. For more notes on all of the EMR packages I looked at, check out the HEAL Africa ICT wiki.
Related Posts:
- Neal Lesh: OpenMRS, Information Systems for Medicine in the Developing World (November, 2007)
- Making Progress! (September, 2007)
- Bloody Effing Hell (September, 2007)
- Web2.0 Notes: Surfacing Personal Information (April, 2008)
- Work Update (September, 2007)
September 1st, 2007 at 8:19 am
One thing I learned from “Mountains Beyond Mountains” is the value of having reliable research data for all the good work that you do. If Farmer hadn’t been able to show the impact of the approach he was taking, it seems unlikely that he would have as much support as he does today. Just something to consider. I would definitely work backwards from the reports and analysis you need — or might need in the future.
September 5th, 2007 at 10:22 am
For a hospital environment you might consider Care2X or WorldVista EHR. Neither of the projects that you mentioned are hospital oriented.
-FT
September 6th, 2007 at 3:19 am
I looked into a number of different EMR systems (including Care2x), but these are the two that bubbled to the top, given our requirements. If you’re curious about why, here is the scratchpad where I’m keeping notes:
http://healafrica.ericnguyen.com/doku.php?id=hospitalmanagementsystems
Ben, it’s looking like OpenMRS…
June 18th, 2009 at 2:50 am
Hey,
Iam also trying to choose between OpenMRS and OpenEMR.
It is now a few years since your last posts..
Can you maybe tell us what did you choose at the end? are you happy with it? Would you choose anything else if you could now?
Shlomi
July 27th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
The same:
Hey,
Iam also trying to choose between OpenMRS and OpenEMR.
–
I want software for a general purpose hospital in Peru, not Africa, whan
July 27th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Hello, guys. I did choose OpenMRS. Unfortunately, my installation of OpenMRS did not see widespread use after I left, largely because I didn’t leave enough time to show the staff there how to use it and get enough “buy-in” from them that they would trust it with their records. You can see all of my related blog posts, here:
http://mindtangle.net/index.php?s=openmrs
My limited experience with OpenMRS may not be very useful. I did at one point review a number of related software packages, however. My notes can be found here:
http://sites.google.com/a/healafricawiki.org/wiki/projects/ict/emr-systems-research
It’s likely that both OpenMRS and OpenEMR have advanced quite a bit in the last few years, so any information I can provide may be out of date. Good luck, though!
September 8th, 2009 at 6:33 am
You can get free online video tutorials at http://www.ehrlive.com
EHR Live also provides many other services for OpenEMR such as installations and support, offsite backups, e-prescribing, e-billing, training, and even can send an easy to install version of OpenEMR on a CD that even the novice of users can use.