We’re exploring ways to make documentation easier and less time-consuming for doctors using OpenEMR.
One idea we’re looking into is using voice input or smart assistants to reduce typing and speed up form filling, but before anything we’d love to hear from you.
What parts of your daily documentation feel most repetitive or time-consuming?
Are there moments where you wish the system could do more to assist you?
Even small comments or ideas would be really helpful.
Hi @Jazmine_Br, welcome to the forum! Could you tell us a little bit about your interest in OpenEMR? Do you represent a company that is looking to offer a solution to the community for instance? Thank you.
Hi Stephen, thank you for the warm welcome and for the thoughtful question.
I’m an AI specialist with a background in computer science and artificial intelligence. I’m part of a team exploring where AI might be able to meaningfully support clinicians using OpenEMR, whether that’s making documentation easier, streamlining repetitive workflows, or helping the system adapt better to real-world use.
One area we think has strong potential is speech-to-text. But before moving toward any solution, our priority is to understand whether this is something the clinical community truly finds valuable or would use in practice.
Over the past several days, I’ve been reviewing forum discussions related to documentation and voice input. I’ve come across about 20 thoughtful posts on speech recognition, and many sparked interesting discussions among developers, but they didn’t seem to draw much engagement from clinicians at the time.
I also posted a question in the Development section and received insightful feedback from several active community members.
Now I’m hoping to better understand the clinical perspective. What parts of documentation feel most painful, and where could the system better support your daily workflow?
Hi @Jazmine_Br – thanks for the thoughtful question.
I would love to tell you the issues I have as a physician using OMER, however I’m curious if your work will be for commercial purposes or as contributions to the open-source platform?
I cannot over-state how much I respect and appreciate all the hard work the team of developers have contributed to this endeavor. My entire practice is based off of their sweat and key-strokes, so I am very hesitant to provide any R&D information without knowing that the information will help the overall open source mission.
Welcome to the community and I hope you become one of the amazing developers I can follow for your thoughtful dev insights on the forums.
DrG
**edited to correct “sweaty key-strokes” – roflmao
If anyone has sweaty key strokes, DM me and I’ll prescribe you something for that hahaha
Thank you again for your thoughtful message. I really appreciated your honesty and the respect you showed for the open-source work behind OpenEMR. It’s exactly the kind of perspective that helps ground our efforts in reality.
To answer your question, yes, we are fully committed to supporting open-source healthcare initiatives. Our team has already contributed to both the Australian and global FHIR communities, and we’ve shared tools like our FHIR converter and Australian FHIR server openly:
We’re also actively exploring ways to contribute meaningfully to OpenEMR.
The current research we’re doing, especially on topics like documentation pain points and voice tools, is to understand whether there’s genuine value we can create for clinicians and how we can do that in a way that aligns with the open-source mission while remaining sustainable.
Thanks again for engaging so thoughtfully. If there are any ideas or concerns you’d be open to sharing, they would be incredibly helpful for shaping the next steps in the right direction.