sankar1234 wrote on Wednesday, May 11, 2005:
I would like to know what practices think about OpenEMR.
How does it compete against some good commercial softwares? Some of the packages are offered at $300 and they come with a good installation procedures good enough for physicians to install. What does the community think about this? OpenEMR is very difficult to install even for computer pros.
sunsetsystems wrote on Wednesday, May 11, 2005:
I think the appeal of OpenEMR is that it’s one of the most advanced *open source* EMR/PM packages. This means, among other things:
(1) If some feature is broken or inadequate for your needs, you can fix it or hire someone to fix it.
(2) You get improvements and updates from other users because of (1).
(3) Changes are driven by the needs of users rather than the needs of any vendor.
(4) Nobody can take it away from you (for example by going out of business).
If none of the above is important to you, then you are probably better off with a commercial product.
For a longer and much better explanation see:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/
– Rod <rod at sunsetsystems dot com>
markleeds wrote on Wednesday, May 11, 2005:
OpenEMR could be packaged in a Linux box and sold ready to go. I think I saw somebody was selling it an a hard drive for a few hundred dollars.
Are their any open source, secure, database driven web sites that you can buy on a disk and install easily?
I guess it could be made easier.
Mark
tekknogenius wrote on Wednesday, May 11, 2005:
It is not difficult to install. Perhaps somewhat for a novice linux user, but certainly not for a regular linux user (not even a pro). It does assume a certain level of understanding (read background knowledge).
drbowen wrote on Wednesday, May 11, 2005:
I like OpenEMR a lot.
I’m allergic to spending cash so I haven’t looked at many proprietary solutions.
sunsetsystems wrote on Thursday, May 12, 2005:
Somehow this article seems relevant:
http://www.computereconomics.com/article.cfm?id=1043
– Rod <rod at sunsetsystems dot com>
sankar1234 wrote on Friday, May 13, 2005:
Any approximate number of clinics or hospitals using the product? any website that provides that information?
sunsetsystems wrote on Friday, May 13, 2005:
Good question. You might ask Pennington, they have probably done more installs than anyone.
– Rod <rod at sunsetsystems dot com>