Current OpenMRS Sites, courtesy of OpenMRS Atlas
Many clinical organizations are working to implement an electronic medical record (EMR) or electronic health record (EHR) to digitize their work and improve the care they can provide. However, many have questions about how to choose an EMR and how to implement these programs.
That is why at GHDonline, during the week of May 14, we’re going to have four experienced implementers leading an Expert Panel Discussion, OpenMRS Implementers: Experiences and Lessons Learned, to discuss topics such as:
- Why did they choose OpenMRS for their electronic medical record?
- What benefits have they seen since the implementation?
- What were unexpected (or perhaps expected) problems that arose?
- What were some of the challenges in implementing an EMR?
OpenMRS is an open source EMR with a community of hundreds of implementers and developers, that have implemented this system in over 130 sites in 50 countries, including the US, South Africa, Germany, the Philippines, and Chile. Further, both the Rwandan and Kenyan governments have chosen OpenMRS for the implementation of their national eHealth infrastructure.
Joining us for the GHDonline OpenMRS Implementers Expert Panel: Experiences and Lessons Learned are:
- Dr. Burke Mamlin, Research Scientist, Regenstrief Institute, Inc.; Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine; co-founder of OpenMRS
- Dr. James Arbaugh, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Hospital Albert Schweitzer (HAS), Haiti
- Dave Thomas, software engineer for Partners In Health (PIH)/Inshuti Mu Buzima (IMB), Rwanda
- Evelyn Castle, Founder and Director of eHealth Nigeria, Nigeria
If you’d like to participate in the discussion or just see their comments, please visit the Health IT Community and sign up at GHDonline.org.
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Guest post by Joaquin Blaya, PhD, GHDonline Community Moderator; Chief Technical Officer at eHealth Systems, an Health IT implementation company; and Research Fellow at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.