OpenEMR

OpenEMR is a "free and open source electronic health record and medical practice management application” [1,2]. OpenEMR is certified as an Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Complete Ambulatory EHR (Electronic Health Record) by the International Computer Security Association (ICSA) Labs [1-3].

History

The OpenEMR application was launched by Synitech in 2001 [2]. Maintenance of OpenEMR was assumed by the Pennington Firm in 2003 [2]. Most recently, OpenEMR has been administered by Rod Roark and Brady Miller [2]. The OpenEMR website states “OpenEMR is supported by a strong community of volunteers and professionals all with the common goal of making OpenEMR a superior alternative to its proprietary counterparts” [1].

The OpenEMR application was initially released under the name MP Pro (MedicalPractice Professional) [2]. The application was subsequently updated to accommodate Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations and re-released as OpenEMR in 2002 [2]. Since 2002, numerous updates have improved standards compliance, internationalization and interoperability [2]. Version 4.1.2 was released August 17, 2013 [2].

Features

As open source software, OpenEMR is free for download, use and modification under the GNU General Public License [1]. Free support is also available [1]. OpenEMR features integrated patient demographics and insurance documentation; scheduling; electronic medical records; clinical decision support; prescription tracking and ordering; coding, billing and claims management; report generation; and, a patient portal [1,2]. OpenEMR currently supports more than 15 languages/dialects and includes access control and encryption capabilities [1,2].

The OpenEMR application is built on PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) programming language and runs on Microsoft (Windows), Mac OS, and Unix operating systems [1,2].

Implementation

The OpenEMR application has been downloaded more than 200,000 times in more than a dozen countries [2,4].

Funding

OEMR is a non-profit organization founded to support the OpenEMR project and community [2,5].

Software Download

The OpenEMR application can be downloaded from OpenEMR, OEMR, and SourceForge.

References

1. OpenEMR. http://www.open-emr.org/.
2. OpenEMR - Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenEMR.
3. OEMR – Open EMR 4.1. Certified Health IT Product List. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. http://oncchpl.force.com/ehrcert/ehrproductdetail?allClassification=BothEHR&attestationYear=None&browseBy=vendorName&completeOnly=false&counter=0&criteriaIds=&criteriaSearchByMeasures=false&doLastSearch=false&id=a0Aa000000aLcVVEA0&lastSearch=searchByField&modularOnly=false&pageNumber=1&pageSize=25&practiceRadio2014=Both&searchByType=productName&searchByValue=openemr&showSeachOption=BothEHR&sortAsc=true&sortBy=3&viewCertYear=2011&viewPracticeSetting=Ambulatory
4. Groen, P. OpenEMR Continues to grow in Popularity and Use. Open Health News: The Voice for the Open Health Community. December 18, 2012. Accessed September 2, 2013.
5. OEMR. http://www.oemr.org/

External Links

1. Open EMR.
2. OEMR.