It our development meeting today, we discussed some ways our company could extend OpenEMR and make it more accessible and usable to an even larger demographic of users. One thing we discussed that sounded like a good idea was integrating text messaging (SMS) into the mix and I wanted to run it by all of you to see what you thought about it.
Imagine being able to schedule an appointment with your provider by simply sending a text message from your mobile phone. The system receives your message, sends you back a date and time when you can see the doctor. If you like it, text back YES followed by your name and phone number and your appointment is automatically scheduled within the OpenEMR software. The doctor will see it on is calendar. Text back NO and the system will pick another time and send to you. All this can be done without ever having to call the office (so it can be done anytime - not just during office hours) and by anyone with a mobile phone.
Of course, it will be useful.
Currently, I send out appointment reminders through text message where feasible. I also run Asterisk and I tried to call in reminders and so far I have had problems with answering machines and I gave up for lack of time.
To move openEMR to the next level and I believe ‘openemrhq’ is in business pushing openEMR,
the user interface has to be beefed up ( Ajaxified, whatever that means), data validations improved, and there are a lot
of little things that need improved before adding on more features.
I have a long list, somewhere and I know Rod has a list too.
For example,
1) when giving appointments at 3:30pm, I am totally lost as to what day I am on.
2) Family members are not well integrated, and when I change the address for one member, I have no clue who the
others in the family are, to update etc.
3) I like to have the balance owed while I am on the phone giving appointments.
May be, I am in a pediatric practice and these are needed only in ours. I don’t know.
Thanks,
braman
ps: please visit www.vitl.net and there may be some opportunities for Open Source. People running the show and who have the funding have no clue about Open Source. This is in Vermont, a small state, and if one has the time, one can even get the
governor on the phone
Appointments by text messaging would surely have some appeal, particularly among the younger crowd. Though I’m not sure how doctors would like the idea of their time being scheduled without anyone talking with their staff. Any docs want to comment?
Regarding appointment confirmation, I believe Dr. Bosman’s group in the Netherlands is working on a feature which does that by SMS and email.
SMS and email notification should be available shortly. We have someone working on this. Basically, an email and/or SMS (text message) is sent out (through an SMS gateway of your choice) x hours before the appointment. The text in this message is up to you (we use the BatchCom format to enter the text template), as is the x in x hours before the appointment. Messages will only be sent to patients who have given permission to receive email and/or sms, and who have an email address and/or mobile phone number on file.
I am currently waiting for the coder to finish his project.
Something else: I would like to have an internet web interface where patients can look up their appointments (and possibly parts of their EMR). Once the SMS service works we can use that as a more or less secure way of authentication (patient logs in with SSN/phone number; system checks if these match with SSN/phone number already in OpenEMR; if so SMS with code is sent; patient can then login using one time code).
Any ideas on what you would like to be available in the web interface?) I am not a technician, but I know security might be an issue here. Please post ideas on what to do/not to do to protect the OpenEMR database from outside access through the web interface. One thing I was considering is let the web interface be completely separate from the OpenEMR box and have the website and the OpenEMR database communicate with a limited dataset?
A public-facing web server needs better security than that in OpenEMR, so a separate server seems wise.
I would think then, that on the OpenEMR side we want a network server (i.e. a daemon) that provides the necessary information to the web server, and not more. If its protocol is built on some sort of standard, then we encourage development of other patient portals and other EHR systems implementing the same interface, which makes things better for everyone.
I wonder if HL7 has a protocol suitable for this, or if it’s otherwise already being addressed?
Hi folks Care2x.org has something like this. It also offers a home page with general information (Hours, messages, contact information, articles and other stuff). Data access is based on user credentials.
a feature like this should:
1. be a different application
2. if possible, run from a separated box
3. run a different mysql user with very limited acces
