Medical care is one of the most demanding fields that one can join. It requires 24/7 attention and focuses on all personnel; may they be a part of the medical team or the administration. With technological advancements and the average person doing better for himself, it has also become a rapidly growing industry.

As a field where all the moving parts have to be precise for the better patient care, it is necessary to induct techniques and processes for better movement and management of resources. One such step was able to be achieved by the development of hospital management systems.




A hospital management system is what you get when you combine IT with medicine. This is a revolutionary system which can be used to better manage the functions that are carried out in a medical care facility. These are web-based or computer-based software which can be used to manage the daily work in a hospital like electronic medical records (EMR), patient information, doctor/nurse schedules, inventory, billing and much more.

As these are complicated software, many of these can be procured on payment. However, there some which are available for free and are known as open source hospital management systems. Today we will be looking at some of the best open source software which works just as well as any paid software out there.

Top 7 Open Source Web Based Hospital Management System

1. OpenMRS

We are going to start the list with a program which is not exactly an electronic medical record (EMR) software. OpenMRS came into existence in 2004, and the idea behind it was not just to create a software which can be used to manage medical records but to give the users a hand on the wheel and let them customize the EMR, without any coding knowledge, as they see fit.
OpenMRS is used in hospitals spread over 40 countries, some of which include government-run hospitals.

Some of its key features are as follows:

  • Can be run over a wide range of operating software.
  • Comes integrated with a concept dictionary with information on drugs, procedures, tests, etc.

2. VistA

This hospital management system was created by the Veterans Affair, an organization in the United States which handles the medical affairs of the retired soldiers who require medical assistance. It is proven to be a very robust system which is used by a majority of hospitals in the United States.

Even though many, like Medsphere with Openvista, have tried to create evolved versions of the same concept, VistA has still remained a fan favorite since it first arrived.

Some of the key features of VistA are as follows:

  • As the most popular, all the medical records can be shared over a wide range of hospitals, thus saving time.
  • As backed by the government, they have large resource pool to keep the system up and running smoothly.

3. FreeMED

Though it started in 1999 as a small effort by one man in Connecticut, US, FreeMED has today become an international database for electronic medical records. The goal to create FreeMED was to have a system, easy to procure and use and create a hub of medical information which can be used to save lives. As is the name, the idea all along was to keep it open source.

Some of its key features are:

  • A good fit for newly established medical care centers or for establishments of smaller size.
  • Best known for specialties like family med, internal med, psychology and surgery among many others.

4. Aarogya

‘Overall well-being’ is the final goal of any healthcare establishment, so it only makes sense that the creators of a hospital management system would name it Aarogya, which in Sanskrit means ‘overall well-being’. The EMR software was created by an Indore-based IT company and is available as an open source. Along with providing the software, the creators have also provided the option to customize the software as per the requirement of the user.

Some of its key features are:

  • Carries out basic hospital management system functions like appointment management, scheduling, diagnostic management, billing, lab information management, etc.
  • Currently available on windows and preferred by startups.

5. OneTouch EMR

A very useful tool for a hospital, OneTouch EMR is a cloud-based hospital management system. The advantage of being cloud-based is that it is accessible from any device, anywhere and anytime. The software can carry out the basic tasks of an EMR system like appointment management, billing, patient history etc., and does so to ensure complete satisfaction.

Some of its features are as follows:

  • Being cloud-based it can be run on any device, mobile or pc, and any OS, iOS or Android.
  • It has an iPad EMR which provides the same functionality on the go, beneficial for hospitals with heavy patient traffic.
  • Customizable as per the users’ demands, additional modules could be purchased for enhanced performance.

6. NOSH

Developed in 2012, NOSH is fairly new in the game but has gained much popularity, which is attributed to it being fast and modern compared to all its competitors. This is a software best suited for managing a small number of patients and is mainly marketed to outpatient clinics.

Though new and small, it can carry out all the big boy tasks like appointment management and reminders, e-ordering, billing and lab management with the same efficiency as all the other EMR systems.

Some of its key features are as follows:

  • Open source software, however, templates and modules sold separately.
  • Best suited for small clinics and outpatient clinics.

7. Solismed

Medicare is a very complicated business and Solismed was created to help hospitals while keeping the process as simple as possible. It is a standard hospital management system, applicable to institutes of all sizes and can carry out all the necessary functions like appointment and billing management, online prescriptions and refill orders, patient history management etc.

Some of its key features are:

  • Helps you keep a track of patient payments and processing patient insurance.
  • Has a patient portal where patients are able to track their progress.

Conclusion

The above mentioned are the top 7 open source hospital management system as per our research. There may be other options in the market but these software have a good user based and the ratings are positive.