Software for Medical Professionals

There are many software packages to aid health care workers.

Medical organizations often need to cut costs to better serve patients and communities. There are many free or nominal-cost software packages available to help doctors, nurses and other care practitioners cut costs yet deliver competent service.

GNUmed

GNUmed is free software for Linux and Windows. You can add new patients and import patient records from other software systems. The software gives you the ability to chart patient demographics as well as delete patients that are no longer enrolled with your practice. Document management includes e-mail, records merge and exporting to text files.

OpenEMR

OpenEMR is free software for medical practices. The software manages medical billing, electronic medical records and prescription writing. The applications include insurance tracking for up to three companies, electronic billing including Medicare, document management and e-prescribing drugs. OpenEMR is available for Windows and Linux.

SmartCare

SmartCare is an electronic health-record system from the U.S. Center for Disease Control in Zambia. The software is designed for low resource and technologically disconnected countries where, especially in rural areas, clinics may not have modern telecommunications. The software's features include pharmacy drug dispensation modules, HIV adult and pediatric HIV modules, portable and secure health records with smart cards, and report generation.

References

• Soft82: GNUmed
• OpenEMR: Homepage
• Dimagi: SmartCare

Resources

• HiMSS: EMR Implementation Issues
• TPJ: The Reality of EMR Implementation: Lessons from the Field
• CPSI: EMR Implementation in Community Hospitals