We are exploring the use of OpenEMR for Workers’ Compensation workflows and would like to understand the existing capabilities, available modules, and recommended implementation approaches.
Specifically, we are interested in understanding support for:
Workers’ Compensation case management
Provider network management
Referral management workflows
Provider contract/rate management
A few questions for the community:
Does OpenEMR currently support Workers’ Compensation workflows or similar Occupational Medicine use cases?
Are there any existing modules, extensions, or recommended approaches for managing Workers’ Compensation cases?
Has anyone implemented provider networks, referrals, or reimbursement/rate management workflows within OpenEMR?
Would extending existing OpenEMR modules be the recommended approach, or is integration with external systems typically preferred?
Any guidance, examples, or lessons learned from similar implementations would be greatly appreciated.
OpenEMR does not have Workman’s Comp support built-in, per se. However it has been used for several purposes besides strictly as an EMR. Two examples I know of are running an Emergency Responder’s dispatch system and being the member management system for a health insurance company. OpenEMR is built to provide data processing functions and capabilities, which can be used to perform whatever tasks you want.
But in order to determine whether you can use OpenEMR in this decidedly NON- EMR role you would need to analyze what activities you want to perform. Break down what you want to do and determine if OEMR can do the individual tasks. It will be a lot of work to redesign the workflows and interface but ‘free’ software is never free of any cost at all.
Some thoughts:
First off, OpenEMR has a wiki that contains a LOT of user documentation on the EMR’s capabilities. Here’s the OpenEMR wiki main page where you can begin your own searches. Feel free to ask back here if you have trouble finding things; the wiki is a little wonky.
Workers’ Compensation case management - what data do you need to track, what reports to generate to perform the case management? You can look in the wiki here to see what a standard encounter/ patient visit consists of to see if the workflows and the data processed lend themselves to your case management activities.
and
OpenEMR has several custom data entry form builders that are touched on in that set of wiki pages.
Provider network management - what do you do to manage that network? Specific tasks. E.g., would they all need to be added as providers to your practice? What communication capabilities would be needed with the providers?
Referral management workflows - OpenEMR does handle referrals, both as messaging to other providers and writing orders to perform labs, imaging, etc.
Provider contract/rate management - how are you going to structure this? Keep track of the hours each provider works then calculate their check? Probably be custom coding that reads billing data.
I’ll leave your questions for the community to the community.
Good luck with your project!
Best- Harley
I have a family member that has run an occupational health clinic on OpenEMR for the past 15 years.
I’ll ask how they handle Workmen’s Comp. and get back with you.