Open Source Emr Software - The Best Software For Your
Deciding whether free or open source electronic medical records (EMR) systems are the right choice for your practice? Whether you’re implementing new software.
As the open source community continues to grow and thrive through the popularity of such enterprise ready platforms as Red Hat, the number of open source medical applications also grows with it. The truth is, medical software is expensive. Most health care providers – doctors, hospitals, dentists, independent clinics – have been under a lot of pressure to maintain or reduce run costs while at the same time continuing to provide the quality patient care and customer service expected of the medical care industry. In an effort to control these costs, many health care organizations are looking toward open source software to help them manage their complex billing and electronic medical records. This is an especially hot topic with the United States government mandating that health care providers move from a paper based system to a primary electronic medical record system over the next two years, complete with short term financial incentives in the form of government refunds for early compliance and hefty fines for late adopters. With that said, here is a list of some of the top open source billing and software available right now.
With its long history of providing free open source electronic medical record software, FreeMED is one of the most advanced and mature EMR tools available in the industry today. A really nice feature is the ability to purchase commercial support licenses for FreeMED. In some ways, it seems like a nice middle ground for users who want to utilize open source tools, but do not have the ability to provide all of the technical support on their own that is inherent in open source products. The OpenEMR Virtual Appliance is a subset of the OpenEMR suite, and provides medical record management, scheduling, insurance billing, prescription management, accounting and several other features. This virtual appliance can run on any operating system, as long as it supports the Free VMware Player. There is a available online to see what it can do. This is a fully functional demo, which allows you to play around with all the software packages in the appliance.
Some simple configuration has been added for clearer demonstration of OpenEMR, medical billing, accounting, and access controls. The FreeB medical billing product has been around for several years, and seems to be in a state of flux right now.
It is a Perl based tool that enjoyed some popularity some years back and may see a resurgence in popularity with the new EMR mandates from the government SmartCare is an internationally distributed electronic medical records tool that was developed by the government of Zambia. It is currently widely used in Zambia, Ethiopia and South Africa. This system was built to support clinics that need to interface internationally, but also have co-existing paper based systems. It is also built around the assumption that many of the clinics may not have ubiquitous access to telecom systems or even reliable electrical power.
Smartcare Features: Distributed database system: Given resource constraints in developing countries such as Zambia where electricity is still not available in some parts of the nation, having Internet access throughout the nation will take many more year. SmartCare data is held at each facility in a distributed design; unlike centralized designs of most systems. Internet is not essential, merely an added benefit.
Smart Card: SmartCare uses client carried smart cards or staff carried flash drives for a lower-tech connectivity solution that works today. An individual’s health information is stored on a very compressed, secure smart card to maintain continuity of care between visits, health services and health facilities. The individual’s health record is also stored on the health facility installation database for backup and generation of facility level and health management information system reports. Touchscreen: Making the data capture task bearable can be the most challenging part of EHR design. SmartCare extends a successful Malawi idea, where touchscreen data entry by existing staff lowers this barrier. The software works well with a touch screen monitor enabling the clinician to view and record patient data.
GIS data visualization: Aggregate health data stored at health facilities can be visualized in GIS maps. This includes live patient data as well as static data from health surveys. XChart is an XML based open source electronic medical record management developed and maintained by the Open HealthCare Group. The Open Healthcare Group wants to create a community of people who share the goal of improving clinical care. This community will be able to freely use our health record, X-Chart. This maximizes everyone’s access to the Open Healthcare Group technology.
The stated purpose of the software is to create an electronic system that is easier to use than paper based systems, which they admit are extremely ubiquitous because of the ease of use over most electronic systems. OpenDental is another electronic medical records application, but with a specific focus on dental care providers. Current versions of the software require Microsoft Windows. Earlier versions of the software had supported other operating systems, but Linux support has been dropped and the full function version is only available under the commercial license because it includes royalty bearing, licensed materials from the American Dental Association (ADA), the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature (CDT). The software has many features, and for a complete list you can check its ClearHealth is a very popular open source electronic medical record application, used by a number of large institutions, including the Primary Care Coalition network out of Maryland, USA. Written in the PHP language and capable of running on most server configurations, Windows, Linux or Mac OS X, under Apache and MySQL (LAMP), ClearHealth is compliant with the expectations of most Open Source web-based systems. ClearHealth is a comprehensive practice management and EMR system incorporating the key categories of functionality for scheduling, patient registration, electronic medical records and, electronic and paper billing, and SQL reporting.
As an open source reference implementation of several interoperability protocols, ClearHealth has support for working with data in HL7 and Continuity of Care Record formats. Author Byline Jason Phillips is author of this post; he is self acclaimed linux specialist and gadget freak. His site to gain insights on medical software. Popular Posts: None Found.
Being the lead developer of OpenEMR, the world’s most widely deployed open source electronic medical record (EMR) system, I field calls on a daily basis from people who want to implement it. As part of the due diligence to discover and deliver the best possible outcome for the client, we give them a set of different implementation options that they can consider. The options range from a basic OpenEMR implementation at their offices, to a far more advanced and feature-packed “cloud” solution called BlueEHS.
Generally we get the following reaction, “So you took OpenEMR and put an industrial wrapper around it.” Let me emphasize here that, no, is written from the ground up, it is a totally different code base on an altogether higher platform. And it is a SaaS (Software as a service) solution. So the next question is, “why do you have BlueEHS and OpenEMR?” I am attempting to answer that question by asking another one, “Is an open source EMR the right choice for you? If not, what are the best alternatives.” Because each system has its own advantages and disadvantages. When we talk about an open source EMR we are talking about OpenEMR which serves more than 300,000 entities in 182 countries in 36 languages. Why did these 300,000 plus entities’ choose open source software? Or more broadly, why do open source aficionados prefer that path?
Here are to using open source. It is cost efficient: free download of code. Try before you buy.
Freedom from vendor lock in. It is flexible and customizable. Support options. Auditability, quality and security of code: This might actually come as a surprise but the fact is due to the source being in the public realm it is more vetted than other closed systems.
Ownership of data: they have access to it. They host their data and protect it themselves. They believe they own the code. Fact is, GPL license requires that you share the code if you sell it outside of your organization. There is one loophole in this whereby you can provide your advanced code as a SaaS Here are a list of reasons when you should:. It is generally easier to implement for unskilled users. When it is the de-facto standard (say MS Office, for example).
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When it offers better support. When the user wants software-as a-service. When warranties and liability indemnities matter. When you need a vendor that will stick around and can provide 7/24 support. While it is true that open source software is “free”, effectively implementing complicated, interconnected EMR software is not for the amateur. You need to have a professional resource who knows what they are doing or you must be that resource. Here is a list of some of the items you need to consider when implementing an on-site open source software with specific reference to EMR.
Security and HIPAA compliance, very likely to be difficult to navigate. Open Source code is constantly improved by the community and changes need to be updated on a regular basis. Customization is a cost (although in most cases the cost is substantially lower than trying to customize proprietary EMRs). Interfaces.
You will need to interface with several third party entities such as Labs, eRX, HIEs and such. These entities work with selected vendors and these interfaces come at additional cost and complicate contracts.
Meaningful Use certification and compliance. Yes, this is different than point number one. Devices integration. Patient Portals and access. Open source EMR suits two kinds of people. The hobbyists who love to do things on their own,. Organizations with resources that can meet the points listed above.
But the need of the hour is to get away from the vice-like grip of monopolistic EHR systems. EPIC holds the medical information of 40% of the US population. The proprietary systems on the cloud offer none of the advantages of open source. Many a times they hold your data hostage. They are inflexible and unusable to the extent that the to revise their testing standards. Physicians are in revolt against these lousy EHRs and Congress has made legislation to fix the EHR mess a priority this term. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a choice today that could deliver all the advantages of open source and the proprietary EHRs while negating the drawbacks of both?
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What would that option look like?. It would be cost effective. The user would only pay if the need additional support. There is no hardware cost: It is a SaaS (Software As A Service).
It is customizable on the cloud. It can be shaped any way the user wants it. The data belongs to the user and they have full access to it at all times. It is hosted on a HIPAA compliant secure cloud that is managed for the user. Contracts in place with all outside entities at no extra cost to the user. The code is constantly updated, leading to a cutting edge application.
It comes with a top of the line Practice management system, a Patient portal, and a Telemedicine platform with Video consult capabilities. And finally, if the users choose to leave can do so without a lock-in. They are free to go to OpenEMR or another EHR, without having to pay any penalties or charges. This is what we call an open source /proprietary hybrid delivering not just an EHR but an (EHS). Currently BlueEHS is the only proprietary system out there that gives users all these features with all this flexibility cost effectively. We essentially took the best of open source and the best of proprietary systems and presents it to you in a friendly and easy to implement fashion.
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We have spent more than eight years customizing, troubleshotting, and implementing OpenEMR for all types of customers worldwide. These include governments and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). All the lessons and knowledge we acquired from years of experience as the top code contributor of code to the OpenEMR project have been used to design and develop the BlueEHS product from the ground up. All this now allows us to provide all types of end users an option that will meet their needs:. Complex institutions who can manage their own IT: open source or AWS image. Hobbyists and fierce independent techies: open source solution. Small to medium range practices: SaaS Solution.
Internet challenged parts of the world: BlueEHS onsite version or open source version. Open source is all about freedom of choice: where else can you find these many choices for your EMR/EHR solution?