OpenMRS Evidence Hub

Help us improve our Evidence Hub! Have you written a published paper about OpenMRS? Know of one that's not listed here? Add it!

Decide if you want to contribute just a few times or regularly.
1. If you just want to contribute right away: You can use this search query on Google Scholar to start finding publications that mention OpenMRS. You are welcome to use other academic search tools instead (such as PubMed); the reason we recommend Google Scholar is we find that this helps us discover mentions from LMIC-based authors whose work may not otherwise appear in academic search tools that favor journals from higher-income settings.
2. If you want to regularly contribute: Sign up for Google Scholar alerts to your inbox at https://scholar.google.com/scholar_alerts 3. Use the search term “openmrs”. This ensures that you will get an email alert for any article that mentions “openmrs” or a similar term. Then when you receive automated email alerts, review the email. (Sometimes it is a false-alarm - e.g. sometimes you’ll get alerts for a totally unrelated system called “openMS”. You can ignore these.)
Review the publication: If the alert looks like it really involves OpenMRS, open up the publication and see if it looks like it is from a legitimate source (such as a formal journal, reputable conference, or other trusted source like a Ministry of Health or implementing organization). Then, see if the article actually mentions anything of substance about OpenMRS. For example, if the article only mentions OpenMRS as a source in a footnote, this is not sufficient to be added to our Evidence page. The article should contribute some interesting knowledge to the OpenMRS community of implementers, developers, or researchers. Sometimes the article might be about some particular disease research, or open source processes, or eHealth leadership, or even cybersecurity practices.
Add to the Wiki page following the table template.
- The most important part here is the “Themes” so that people can quickly find articles of interest to them, or at least, proof that OpenMRS has had impact in multiple areas. (For example, in the past there was a myth that OpenMRS was only for HIV care (incorrect!), so it was important for us to show articles from other disease areas, such as Oncology, Endocrinology, and more.)
- Use APA formatting (guidelines here, free generator here), as this is often the formatting standard that healthcare researchers expect, and thus communicates professionalism.
Bonus: If you thought the article had an extra interesting quote or general finding, share that quote or note in the table for easy reference!

This page is our online repository of the many studies conducted exploring OpenMRS. Collectively, these studies provide strong evidence for a variety of use cases: the impact of EMR use on care, secondary data use for site or regional or global program guidelines improvement, and the community open source model. The OpenMRS Community maintains the OpenMRS Evidence Base and adds new studies as they are discovered.

Over 4,300 publications are noted online involving OpenMRS - search query here.

Note

This page began in August 2023. We are communally updating this with the thousands of articles published on OpenMRS, strongly prioritizing recent articles from within the last few years.

Category	Citation APA formatting preferred	Year	Country	Reference Key	URL	Misc. Notes

Category	Citation APA formatting preferred	Year	Country	Reference Key	URL	Misc. Notes
Implementation	Elepaño, A., Tan‑Lim, C. S., Javelosa, M. A., De Mesa, R. Y., Rey, M., Sanchez, J., Dans, L., & Dans, A. M. (2025, July 15). Implementing Electronic Health Records in Philippine Primary Care Settings: Mixed‑Methods Pilot Study. JMIR Medical Informatics, 13, e63036. https://doi.org/10.2196/63036	2025	Philippine	Elepaño, 2025	https://medinform.jmir.org/2025/1/e63036	This mixed‑methods pilot study evaluates the deployment of an OpenMRS‑based system across urban, rural, and remote primary care settings in the Philippines (2016–2022), demonstrating consistently higher user acceptability and highlighting the platform’s importance for contextually tailored health IT in diverse LMIC settings
Implementation Data Quality	Uwase, M., Ntakirutimana, I., Kayiranga, D., Mugisha, E., Twizere, C., Tumusiime, D., & Mugisha, M. (2025). Data quality assessment in mUzima‑OpenMRS: A mobile application used by community health workers for screening hypertension and diabetes in Rwanda. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 328, 387–391. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI250744	2025	Rwanda	Uwase, 2025	https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40588951/	This study evaluates the completeness and uniqueness of data collected via the mUzima mobile app built on OpenMRS by community health workers in Rwanda, finding high-quality data (81% completeness, 89% uniqueness) while recommending stronger quality control features.
Digital Public Goods Generativity Implementation	Negussie, M. S., Gizaw, A. A., & Nielsen, P. (2025, May). On the generativity of digital public goods: DHIS2 and OpenMRS in Ethiopia. In M. Cunningham & P. Cunningham (Eds.), IST‑Africa 2025 Conference Proceedings (pp. x–x). IST‑Africa Institute & IIMC.	2025	Ethiopia	Negussie, 2025	PDF	Analysis on OpenMRS, DHIS2 implementation in Ethiopia, using the concept of generativity to explore how global "Digital Public Goods" adapt to local contexts and what governance, architecture, and community mechanisms support successful adoption
Cervical Cancer Implementation	Sibomana, H., Ukwishaka, J., Mtenga, H., Luoga, O., Acosta, D., Fisher-Borne, M., ... & Hildebrand, M. R. (2025). Evaluating the Outcomes of Digital Health Solutions for Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination and Cervical Cancer Services in Rwanda: A Mixed-Method Study. Rwanda Medical Journal, 82(1), 48-59.	2025	Rwanda	Sibomana, 2025	PDF	Study showing mUzima mobile app intergrated with OpenMRS used in over 28 district hospitals and two referral centres for cervical cancer services, which led to Rwanda’s screening coverage rise from 1% to 16% between 2018–2023
ANC Machine Learning	Sylvain, M. H., Nyabyenda, E. C., Uwase, M., Komezusenge, I., Ndikumana, F., & Ngaruye, I. (2025). Prediction of adverse pregnancy outcomes using machine learning techniques: evidence from analysis of electronic medical records data in Rwanda. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 25, 76.	2025	Rwanda	Sylvain, 2025	https://bmcmedinformdecismak.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12911-025-02921-z	Patient data here was captured in the Ministry’s OpenMRS based system across 25 hospitals to train Random Forest and Gradient Boosting models that predicted adverse pregnancy outcomes with up to 90.6 % accuracy (ROC‑AUC 0.85), highlighting OpenMRS as a critical source for data‑driven, high‑risk pregnancy identification
Development Machine Learning	Chowdhury, S. (2025). The Good, the Bad, and the Monstrous: Predicting Highly Change-Prone Source Code Methods at Their Inception. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology. arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.05704.	2025	Global	Chowdhury, 2025	https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3715006	A study introducing a machine learning approach to predict highly change-prone Java methods at their inception, in systems, OpenMRS being one of those studied, helping in identifying and managing volatile code components early in its platform development. …so as to enable proactive maintenance.
Implementation	Campbell, E., Bear Don’t Walk IV, O. J., Fraser, H., Gichoya, J., Wagholikar, K. B., Kanter, A. S., ... & Craig, S. (2025). Principles and implementation strategies for equitable and representative academic partnerships in global health informatics research. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, ocaf015.	2025	Global	Campbell, 2025	https://academic.oup.com/jamia/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jamia/ocaf015/8011449	A paper by Elizabeth Campbell, Andrew Kanter, among others, where they highlight some core principles for equitable, sustainable global health informatics collaborations… like a local development and leadership while engaging international collaborations for sustainability, scalability with limited funding, among other principles, very useful considerations in Implementations.
Implementation Evaluation	Pognon, P. R., Boima, F., & Mekonnen, Z. A. (2025). Health Workers’ Acceptance and Satisfaction on the Usability of the Digital Health Goods, in Kono District, Sierra Leone. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 1067-1079.	2025	Sierra Leone	Pognon, 2025	PDF	This survey of 151 health workers in PIH‑SL‑supported Sierra Leon clinics found that the OpenMRS was used to capture real‑time point‑of‑care patient data having a 72.2 % acceptance and satisfaction mainly due to the system’s perceived ease of use
HIV, KPs	Ensuring Equitable Access to Quality HIV Care for Key Populations in Complex Sociocultural Settings: Lessons from Nigeria Abdulsamad Salihu, Ibrahim Jahun, David Olusegun Oyedeji, Wole Fajemisin, Omokhudu Idogho, Samira Shehu, Jennifer Anyanti	2025	Nigeria	Salihu 2025	https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.19.25320786
Imlementation Evaluation	Manyanye, S., Kapepo, M., Van Belle, J. P., & Mthwasi, G. (2025). Affordances and Constraints of the Open Medical Record System (OpenMRS) for Public Health Services Delivery in Lesotho. Procedia Computer Science, 256, 816-824.	2025	Lesotho	Manyanye, 2025	PDF
Continuous Quality Improvement Implementation ANC	Jean-Baptiste, M. C., Julmiste, T. M. V., & Ball, E. (2024). Health Information System Strengthening During Antenatal Care in Haiti: Continuous Quality Improvement Study. JMIR Formative Research, 8(1), e55000.	2024	Haiti	Jean-Baptiste, 2024	https://s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/assets.jmir.org/assets/preprints/preprint-55000-accepted.pdf	Based on a study in Haiti, where electronic documentation of prenatal visits in the OpenMRS increased from 15% to 89% over nine months. The findings highlight important implementation strategies to increase adoption & electronic visit documentation
IoT Deep Neural Network Vital Signs Monitoring	Renold, A. P. (2024). PERS: Personalized environment recommendation system based on vital signs. Egyptian Informatics Journal, 28, 100580.	2024	Global	Renold, 2024	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110866524001439	Findings on the potential of integrating PERS (Personalized Environment Recommendation System), an IoT driven system, with OpenMRS to continuously monitor patients’ vital signs and surrounding environmental conditions to provide personalized environmental adjustment recommendations
Testing AI LLMs	Chi, J., Wang, X., Huang, Y., Yu, L., Cui, D., Sun, J., & Sun, J. (2024). REACCEPT: Automated Co-evolution of Production and Test Code Based on Dynamic Validation and Large Language Models. arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.11033.	2024	Global	Chi, 2024	https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.11033	Offers a way for systems like OpenMRS to automatically sync its test suite with evolving clinical features using REACCEPT, which leverages experience‑based prompt templates, retrieval‑ augmented generation, and dynamic validation with LLMs to fully automate production–test co‑evolution, achieving a 60.16 % accuracy on updating obsolete test cases
HIS Health Policy Evaluation	Bataliack, S., Ebongue, M., Karamagi, H., & Leon, J. (2024). Health data digitalization in Africa: unlocking the potential. COI: 20.500.12592/1icxw0z.	2024	Africa	Bataliack, 2024	PDF	A comprehensive evaluation of digital health data systems in Africa and strategic recommendations for standardized, interoperable EMR adoption, OpenMRS being one of the main systems being evaluated with recommendations.
Governance Open Source Sustainability	Yenişen Yavuz, E., Shrivastava, A., Riehle, D., & Putz, F. (2024, November). Governance Practices for Open Source Foundations in the Healthcare Sector. In International Conference on Software Business (pp. 382-397). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.	2024	Global	Yenişen, 2024	PDF https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-85849-9_30	A study on governance best practices across vendor‑led and user‑led open‑source healthcare foundations… with insights that OpenMRS can adopt to enhance its own community‑led governance, board structure, and member engagement processes. Amazingly OpenMRS excels at most of the areas covered like strategy for financial sustainability, new contributor onboarding, transparency, balancing commercial/open‑source interests, regulatory alignment, community celebration, among others 🚀
Decision- Support PWDs	Chichaeva, J. (2024). Global Digital Rehabilitation Summit 2024: Human-Centered Innovations and Beoyond.	2024	Cambodia	Chichaeva, 2024	PDF	Highlights the impact of the use of OpenMRS within ICRC’s DCMS in enhancing rehabilitation service delivery and decision-making in low-resource settings, particularily to support PWDs
TB Tuberculosis	Sharifov, R., Nabirova, D., Tilloeva, Z. et al. TB treatment delays and associated risk factors in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 2019–2021. BMC Infect Dis 24, 1398 (2024).	2024	Tajikistan	Sharifov 2024	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-10265-8
Data Interpretation	Nanyonga, S., Medina, P. B., Kozlakidis, Z., Garcia, D. L., Ivanova, D., & Katsaounis, P. (2024). Proliferation, ingestion, and interpretation of health data in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In Z. Kozlakidis, A. Muradyan, & K. Sargsyan (Eds.), Digitalization of medicine in low- and middle-income countries (Sustainable Development Goals Series). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62332-5_25	2024	Global	Nanyonga 2024	https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-62332-5_25	This Book Chapter shows how digital health initiatives like OpenMRS are progressing from pilot stages to scalable, integrated healthcare solutions, emphasizing the importance of data proliferation, ingestion, and interpretation for sustainable impact.
Process Optimization Implementation models Innovation	Avagyan, A., Minasyan, E., Khachatryan, H., & Gevorgyan, S. (2024). Possible process optimization: Innovative digital health implementation models. In Z. Kozlakidis, A. Muradyan, & K. Sargsyan (Eds.), Digitalization of medicine in low- and middle-income countries (Sustainable Development Goals Series). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62332-5_10	2024	Global	Avagyan 2024	https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-62332-5_10
Interoperability Cyber Security FHIR	Anantharaman, P., Shapiro, R., Varadharaju, V., & Locasto, M. E. (2024). A study of interoperability in electronic health record software. In Proceedings of the 2024 Workshop on Cybersecurity in Healthcare (HealthSec ’24) (pp. 8). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3689942.3694743	2024	Global	Anantharaman 2024	PDF	FHIR Garden, a tool designed to compare FHIR implementations in EMRs including OpenMRS, identifying parser discrepancies and highlighting vulnerabilities that could impact patient data security.
COVID 19 Remote Health Monitoring	Musheghyan, L., Harutyunyan, N., Sikder, A., Reid, M., Zhao, D., Lulejian, A., Dickhoner, J., Andonian, N., Aslanyan, L., Petrosyan, V., Sargsyan, Z., Shekherdimian, S., Dorian, A., & Espinoza, J. (2024). Managing patients with COVID-19 in Armenia using a remote monitoring system: Descriptive study. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 10, e57703. https://doi.org/10.2196/57703	2024	Armenia	Musheghyan 2024	https://publichealth.jmir.org/2024/1/e57703	This study highlights the effective use of an OpenMRS based system for a remote monitoring and home-based oxygen therapy program (COVID@home) in Armenia, showcasing its potential in resource-limited settings.
Implementation Clinical Decision-Making Impact	Bouh, M. M., Hossain, F., Paul, P., et al. (2024). The impact of limited access to digital health records on doctors and their willingness to adopt electronic health record systems. Digital Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076241281626	2024	Bangladesh	Bouh 2024	https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20552076241281626	The study investigates the challenges Bangladeshi doctors face due to limited access to digital health records, affecting their workload and clinical decision-making. It also highlights the impact and efficiency brought in by some OpenMRS-based implementations
Implementation	Uwambajimana, E., Rugirangoga, P., Musabyimana, E., et al. (2024, August 25). Assessment of the use of electronic medical records system and barriers in Rwanda (Version 1) Preprint. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4763866/v1	2024	Rwanda	Uwambajimana 2024	https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-4763866/v1
Implementation Interoperability Architecture	Bakke, S. M. (2024). OpenMRS and Bahmni as an HIS in Ethiopia: Challenges with Integration and Interoperability with DHIS2 (Master's thesis). University of OSLO.	2024	Ethiopia	Bakke 2024	PDF
Process optimization Implementation models	Avagyan, A., Minasyan, E., Khachatryan, H., Gevorgyan, S. (2024). Possible Process Optimization: Innovative Digital Health Implementation Models. In: Kozlakidis, Z., Muradyan, A., Sargsyan, K. (eds) Digitalization of Medicine in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62332-5_10	2024	Global	Avagyan 2024	https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-62332-5_10
Diabetes Hypertension User Experience	Ntakirutimana, I., Kayiranga, D., Muhirwa, A., Nkurunziza, E., Sibomana, E., Uwamahoro, A., Igihozo, T., Ndoli, A., Niyonshuti, E., Rwubaka, E., Tuyishime, I., Umutoniwase, E. M., & Mugisha, M. (2024). Nurses' Experience of Using an Electronic Medical Records - OpenMRS Module for the Management of Hypertension and Diabetes in Rwanda: A Qualitative Study. Studies in health technology and informatics, 316, 1048–1052. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI240590	2024	Rwanda	Ntakirutimana 2024	https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39176970/	Study found the OpenMRS system useful in simplifying patient care and reporting as nurses also could use the system with limited and manageable challenges. . Some barriers related to the use of the system were slowness of the system, turnover of trained users, and some challenges related to system design and navigations.
Water Quality Epidemiology Disease Surveillance Rural	Finkelstein, A. L. (2024). Is Our Water Safe to Drink? A View from Rural Honduras (Publication No. 46199) [Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh].	2024	Rural Honduras	Finkelstein 2024	PDF	Implementation of OpenMRS in San Jose del Negrito, Honduras, for improved disease surveillance and healthcare management. The system is intented to track child growth, prenatal care, and malnutrition and also how they tie to the public water quality.
Implementation HIV Interoperability	Maoeng, M., Bruce, K., Motebang, M., Chen, C. W., Lecher, S., Gadisa, T., Saito, S., & Ntsaba, M. (2024). From Disease Specific to Universal Health Coverage in Lesotho: Successes and Challenges Encountered in Lesotho’s Digital Health Journey. Oxford Open Digital Health. DOI:10.1093/oodh/oqae021	2024	Lesotho	Maoeng 2024	PDF	Highlights opportunities & challenges of scaling/expanding from a system ( Based on OpenMRS Bahmni Distro) that was built to serve only HIV & TB needs, to multiple areas to become functional across all reportable diseases. Shows need for Core elements of digital health systems including governance, security, power, & connectivity to be in place.
Implementation Quality Improvement HIV	Fraser H, Mugisha M, Bacher I, Ngenzi J, Seebregts C, Umubyeyi A, Condo J. (2024) Factors Influencing Data Quality in Electronic Health Record Systems in 50 Health Facilities in Rwanda and the Role of Clinical Alerts: Cross-Sectional Observational Study JMIR Public Health Surveill 2024;10:e49127 DOI: 10.2196/49127	2024	Rwanda	Fraser 2024	https://publichealth.jmir.org/2024/1/e49127	Study on 50 health facilities (HFs) using OpenMRS, an EHR system that supports HIV care in Rwanda, and performed a data quality evaluation
Implementation Improvement	D. RWEGASIRA et al. (2024), "Deployment and Innovation Processes of Integrated Electronic Medical Record (EMR) System: A Case of University Health Centre Living Lab in Tanzania," 2024 IST-Africa Conference (IST-Africa), Dublin, Ireland, 2024, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.23919/IST-Africa63983.2024.10569206.	2024	Tanzania	Rwegasira 2024	https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10569206	Challenges identified and development approaches, results, and system implementation benefits, for iCareConnect+, an OpenMRS implementation at University of Dar es Salaam Health Centre living lab.
Maternal Healthcare	M. CHEMISTO et al.(2024). "ICT for Improved Maternal Healthcare in Uganda: A Systematic Literature Review," 2024 IST-Africa Conference (IST-Africa), Dublin, Ireland, 2024, pp. 1-11, doi: 10.23919/IST-Africa63983.2024.10569857.	2024	Uganda	CHEMISTO 2024	https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/10569857	The influence of ICTs on Uganda's maternal health sector development based on the premise that ICTs like OpenMRS, have supported improvements in maternal health services such as antenatal, pregnancy, and postnatal care.
HIV HIV viral suppression HIV medication Implementation	Hedima, E. W., Ohieku, J. D., David, E. A., Ikunaiye, N. Y., Nasir, A., Alfa, M. A., Abubakar S., Bwiyam, I. K., & Bitrus, T. Z. (2024). Evaluation of viral suppression and medication-related burden among HIV-infected adults in a secondary care facility, Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy, 2024, 100473, ISSN 2667-2766	2024	Nigeria	Hedima 2024	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667276624000702	Study conducted with data collected using Nigeria-OpenMRS revealed that majority of the patients achieved viral suppression with moderate degree of medication-related burden. Proposed Targeted interventions toward younger patients, females and patients with unsuppressed viral loads
Antenatal Care Quality improvement Implementation	Casella Jean-Baptiste M, Vital Julmiste T, Ball E (2024). Health Information System Strengthening During Antenatal Care in Haiti: Continuous Quality Improvement Study JMIR Form Res 2024;8:e55000 DOI: 10.2196/55000	2024	Haiti	Jean-Baptiste 2024	https://formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e55000	Improved data use and quality for antenatal patient care using OpenMRS at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (Haiti). Zanmi Lasante and Partners In Health
Interoperability Standards-based HL7 FHIR	Bacher I, Goodrich M, Kimaina A, Seaton M, Faulkenberry G, Vaish S, Flowers J, Fraser HS. FHIRing up OpenMRS: Architecture, Implementation and Real-World Use-Cases in Global Health. AMIA Jt Summits Transl Sci Proc. 2024 May 31;2024:162-171. PMID: 38827065; PMCID: PMC11141833.