Choosing Your OpenMRS Approach
There are 3 main ways to use OpenMRS software:
1. The OpenMRS EMR
This is the main product of our community: A full-featured EMR that can be adapted to any clinical area or specialty condition, and for outpatient care (OPD) or inpatient care (IPD). This was formerly known as the Reference Application or “RefApp”. OpenMRS v3 (O3) is the version with the most intensive community effort on the user interface and features.
If you chose to use the OpenMRS EMR, there are several tools you can use to make it fit your use cases:
Starter Content: You can use the demo content package like a “starter kit”, as it contains the metadata set-up that most teams would need (e.g. common Labs, Diagnoses, Drugs, etc).
Add-Ons Marketplace: OpenMRS is highly modular: Additional features can be added to the backend through “OpenMRS Modules” or to the frontend through JavaScript esm apps. There are so many teams around the world who have built additional features - and made them available for others to use! Unlock the features you need with plug-in modules shared by our global network in the Add-Ons Marketplace: https://addons.openmrs.org/
HIS-Lite Modules: Thanks to community efforts, there are modules available for typically non-EMR features that are usually handled by other big complex systems (like an ERP, LIS, etc). This is ideal for teams who do not need - or cannot support - a big other system to accomplish simple goals, like basic billing clerical tracking. This includes: Billing-lite; Laboratory-lite; Stock/Inventory-lite; Pharmacy/Dispensing-lite; with more functionality being added all the time through shared community work.
We recommend these HIS-Lite modules for sites that need basic billing, lab, and pharmacy workflows, and where there is minimal or no on-site IT support. This makes the system easier to maintain and easier to train users.
However:
Some mid-level sites should consider using fit-for-purpose solutions as well, such as a Lab Information System, since such systems are designed for Lab users and cover needs and use cases that the lab-lite module is not designed to handle. See om.rs/integrate for Integration options and examples.
For sites such as large, advanced, top-tier hospitals, where there is more advanced IT capacity and complex workflows for clerical or HR or Lab etc, we recommend exploring OpenMRS HIS or Ozone.
2. The OpenMRS Platform
The OpenMRS Platform is the foundation and brain of all OpenMRS software. The Platform is like a toolbox for teams who want to build their own systems on the foundation of the OpenMRS EMR. (For example, some teams chose to build their own EMR interface on top of the OpenMRS Platform instead of using the community’s user interface.) The Platform gives developers:
An established medical data model.
APIs: A REST API and FHIR API that can be used to connect the platform with other systems or frontends.
Software Developer Kit (SDK): The OpenMRS SDK allows for rapid development of modules and the OpenMRS Platform code. https://openmrs.atlassian.net/wiki/x/KLyEAQ
Sample Patient Data for Testing: Many teams need some sample data to help with testing their EMR. Our community provides some data for testing purposes here. https://openmrs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/docs/pages/26273323
3. OpenMRS HIS
The OpenMRS HIS distribution is a sample set-up of a complete Health Information System, where instead of using the lite modules described below, an implementor or site needs very advanced systems, and has capacity to monitor and maintain connections between those systems.
OpenMRS HIS is powered by the Ozone interoperability layer, and combines these systems into one single-sign-on user experience:
OpenMRS (EMR component)
Odoo (ERP component)
OpenELIS Global (LIS component)
Superset (Data Viz component)
…and more to come (e.g. RAD and Insurance systems)
We recommend OpenMRS HIS for sites such as large, advanced, top-tier hospitals, where there is more advanced IT capacity. For sites with little IT capacity and less demanding complexity, we recommend using the EMR with the lite add-ons such as billing-lite, to reduce both technical and user-training demands. HIS can be and has been used at smaller remote sites, but with dedicated technical support.
Playlist of OpenMRS HIS explainer videos:
Example of a hospital using the HIS approach: