I am considering using OpenEMR as a patient-facing PHR management platform for a small health plan.
Clinician-facing features in the OpenEMR (e.g., appointments, prescriptions, encounters, billing, orders) would be disabled.
Patients would access the OpenEMR-based PHR management platform using the built-in patient portal or by integrating a SMART on FHIR app for mobile access. This would allow members to upload PHI from the patient portal via structured LBF forms for specific types and sensitivities of PHI. This information would be clearly marked as originating from the member and not a doctor using metadata fields.
The OpenEMR instance being used as a PHR would connect to a HIE as would provider EMRs, for sharing of patient’s PHI.
A third party consent management system with granular consent capabilities would be accessed and updated by the patient from the PHR (i.e. OpenEMR) portal. This would control what information in a patient’s PHR and what information in their providers’ EMR or paper records systems would be shareable to the HIE and thereafter to other providers.
Is this a feasible solution? Any advice would be welcomed.
Hello @nigelst
Welcome to the forum and the OpenEMR community!
As a matter of fact several years ago I saw OpenEMR used (may still be for that matter) to do precisely what you propose: manage a health plan. I do not know if the plan is still in business; haven’t heard of the major players for a long time.
This was before FHIR, and it required major customization in data collection forms but that was managed with the native LBF and Nation Notes features, as you mentioned.
I don’t remember if that application connected to an HIE but OpenEMR does have the basic background capabilities to do that; the native portal provides most of the other features to deal with your planned modifications.
Don’t know how familiar you are with OpenEMR’s features or if you’ve seen the OpenEMR wiki yet. But that’d be a good place to see much of what it can do and how much you’d need to mod it to do what you want. It might be helpful to start here:
Then come on back here with any questions you come up with.
Best- Harley
Thank you very much for your quick reply and information therein as well as your welcome to the OpenEMR community. I will certainly do as you suggest and revert to you thereafter. I have also been browsing the OpenEMR community for a few months now prior to creating an account and am also spending time on the demos to guide my thoughts (as part of this proposed health plan we are also looking at offering OpenEMR for its EMR capabilities to healthcare providers who don’t currently use EMRs - these initiatives are for some projects in a few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa).