jimbo456 wrote on Sunday, July 17, 2005:
A client I am talking to is interested in remote OpenEMR. They are mental health providers scattered all over the place. They wish to have a central OpenEMR server with client record check out and in. Some providers will not have internet connections on a consistant basis to just setup a VPN. They will probably login to the internet once a day to do updates.
I am considering running a central server and a copy of OpenEMR on remote laptops.
First, laptops will only be used for OpenEMR no admin privledges just a Linux user the provider. Connections will be made through a VPN to the server. I might also bring in a SSL connection to the webserver for redundancy.
Next I will have a blank copy of openemr on the laptop. I will have a module on the laptop login to the server. Then only display the records the provider is eligible for. The module checks out any records the provider needs and uploads any records ready to be uploaded (provider decides this). Billing and accounting will be handled on the central server side. Just medical records remotely.
I am asking for comments, design issues ect. I would like to design in any features now rather than go back later and hack in a feature.
I am also asking for security concerns. Currently paper records are being checked out and the latop will have to be treated the same as paper for physical security. Rights on the laptop will be locked down. I even thought about putting a timer on for record checkouts so they must be checked within a certain amount of time or you can’t check out any more. This will prevent checking everything out and risk loosing a bunch of data due to harddrive failure. Trust me, the providers don’t get paid if they don’t upload the data. It does encourage frequent updates to get timely billing done.
Jim Proctor