OpenMRS

Working together to build the world's leading open source enterprise electronic medical record system platform.

OpenMRS is a software platform and a reference application which enables design of a customized medical records system with no programming knowledge (although medical and systems analysis knowledge is required). It is a common platform upon which medical informatics efforts in developing countries can be built. The system is based on a conceptual database structure which is not dependent on the actual types of medical information required to be collected or on particular data collection forms and so can be customized for different uses.

OpenMRS is based on the principle that information should be stored in a way which makes it easy to summarize and analyze, i.e., minimal use of free text and maximum use of coded information. At its core is a concept dictionary which stores all diagnosis, tests, procedures, drugs and other general questions and potential answers. OpenMRS is a client-server application, which means it is designed to work in an environment where many client computers access the same information on a server.

  • Central concept dictionary: Definitions of all data (both questions and answers) are defined in a centralized dictionary, allowing for robust, coded data
  • Security: User authentication
  • Privilege-based access: User roles and permission system
  • Patient repository: Creation and maintenance of patient data, including demographics, clinical observations, encounter data, orders, etc.
  • Multiple identifiers per patient: A single patient may have multiple medical record numbers
  • Data entry: With the FormEntry module, clients with InfoPath (included in Microsoft Office 2003 and later) can design and enter data using flexible, electronic forms. With the HTML FormEntry module, forms can be created with customized HTML and run directly within the web application.
  • Data export: Data can be exported into a spreadsheet format for use in other tools (Excel, Access, etc.)
  • Standards support: HL7 engine for data import
  • Modular architecture: An OpenMRS Module can extend and add any type of functionality to the existing API and webapp.
  • Patient workflows: An embedded patient workflow service allows patient to be put into programs (studies, treatment programs, etc.) and tracked through various states.
  • Cohort management: The cohort builder allows you to create groups of patients for data exports, reporting, etc.
  • Relationships: Relationships between any two people (patients, relatives, caretakers, etc.)
  • Patient merging: Merging duplicate patients
  • Localization / internationalization: Multiple language support and the possibility to extend to other languages with full UTF-8 support.
  • Support for complex data: Radiology images, sound files, etc. can be stored as “complex” observations
  • Reporting tools: Flexible reporting tools
  • Person attributes: The attributes of a person can be extended to meet local needs

OpenMRS is now in use around the world (see the OpenMRS Atlas), including South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, Haiti, India, China, United States, Pakistan, the Phillipines, and many other places. This work is supported in part by many organizations including international and government aid groups, NGO’s, as well as for-profit and non-profit corporations.