What is an open source or a free Electronic Health Record System?

(Published in 2011)

Open-source software are those available in source code form, often developed in a public and collaborative manner. In contrast, closed source software developers pose restrictions to access the original source code.

There is a long list of proprietary Electronic Health Record Systems available for commercial use with advanced features and good customer support. As there is a shift of the whole IT industry towards open source software, few useful open source projects to develop Electronic Health Record Systems are initiated in the last decade.

Table 1: List of Open Source Medical Software

Casis
ClearHealth
CottageMed
CyDoc
DHIS
FreeMED
GNUmed
Hospital OS
HOSxP
HRHIS
IQCare
Medical
MedinTux
Mirth
Open Dental
OpenEHR
OpenEMR
OpenMRS
OSCAR McMaster
PatientOS
PHYAURA HER
SmartCare
TheraBill
THIRRA
ZEPRS


There are advantages and disadvantages for each open source Electronic Health Record System.

OpenMRS is one of the leading open-source electronic health record systems which outperform most of its competitors from several aspects.