GNU Health

GNU Health

GNU Health is a free/libre ecosystem in healthcare. It is modular, extensible, builds on top of proven Free/Libre software (like Python, PostgreSQL, GnuPG), supports open standards (like HL7/FHIR), and is developed by a worldwide community. GNU Health contains elements for individuals (MyGNUHealth), Health practitioners and hospitals (GNU Health HMIS, Health Management, and Information System, and Ministry of Health /local and regional health networks (GNU Health Federation).

Approach

• GNU Health Hospital Management (HMIS)

GNU Health HMIS component for Health Practitioners, Health Institutions and Governments. Its modular design allows to be deployed in many different scenarios: from small private offices, to large, national public health systems. It covers the functionality of Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Hospital Management and Health Information System (HIS). GNU Health HMIS component is standard-based, and it provides over 40 packages/modules (primary care, obstetrics & gynecology, pediatrics, surgery, lims, genetics, diagnostic imaging, reporting...) to fit institutional needs. The GH HMIS combines the socioeconomic determinants of health with state-of-the-art technology in bioinformatics and clinical genetics. It manages the internal processes of a health institution, such as financial management, billing, stock management, pharmacies or labs (LIMS) As GNU Health builds on top of Tryton, the functionality of GNU Health can be extended by using additional modules from Tryton (~140 modules).

• GNU LIMS Laboratory

GNU LIMS, also known as Occhiolino, is a modern Laboratory Information Management System for the healthcare and biomedical sectors, that has emerged as a GNU Health sub-project. The Laboratory Modules manage the request, creation and evaluation of laboratory analyses. As far as the LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) functionality, GNU Health is very flexible. A user will be able to link it to the patient chart and to the financial management of the Health Center.

• MyGNUHealth

The GNU Health Personal Health Record (PHR) MyGNUHealth is the GNUHealth Personal Health Record application for desktop and mobile devices that integrates with the GNU Health Federation. MyGNUHealth development uses the latest mobile and desktop technology, such as Qt, KDE Plasma and the Kirigami framework. MyGNUHealth Personal Health Record is a privacy-oriented PHR, that will put the citizen and the patient in control of her health and medical information. MyGNUHealth enhances and improves the interaction between citizens and healthcare professionals, with updated information on demographics and medical information.

• GNU Health Federation

The GNU Health Federation allows to build large, nation wide federated networks with thousands of heterogeneous nodes. The GNU Health Federation is revolutionary and will provide the community, the health practitioners, the research institutions and the ministries of health to have much better perspective and precise information on the individuals and their context. The GNU Health Federation project aims to build a community-based, federated health network among different regions and in a country, and, why not, among countries around the globe. A federation can be as large as you want. From a small regional federated network with several nodes to a large, nationwide health network with thousands/millions of participating nodes.

• GNU Health Embedded

Single-board Computers (SBC) are devices with a huge potential for the Public Health System when partnering with GNU Health. They can provide real-time monitoring of vital signs in hospital settings, retrieve information from laboratory instruments or be a great Personal Health tracker. They are also a great resource for research and academic institutions.

• GNU Health Social Medicine

GNU Health as a social movement: GNU Health is a social project with technology behind. It’s about Social Medicine and delivering universal healthcare. It is about social activism. One of the main reasons that led to the creation of GNU Health were the tremendous inequalities in access to healthcare. Over 20000 children die every day from preventable, social diseases. To name a few: malnutrition, contaminated water, child slavery, prostitution, war, malaria, HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, dengue and other neglected tropical diseases. These are causes and/or results of social diseases, conditions that have a higher impact and higher prevalence on the poor and the underprivileged.

Studying and getting a deeper understanding on the living conditions of people in rural areas and in urban ghettos around the world, reinforced the intention to write a system that included the socio-economic determinants of health and disease. Most of the time, health (and the lack of) is determined by the environment, and biology plays a lesser role. Proper nutrition, housing, sanitation, access to education and to primary healthcare are key for the dignity, development and health of the individual, family and society at large.

Implementations

GNU Health is a global project with implementations around the globe. Because it is Free/Libre Software, anyone can download it, with no tracking, so it's hard to estimate the actual number of implementations. GNU Health HMIS has been implemented governments, and public and private institutions around the world, including multilateral organizations such as WHO.

The GNU Health project provides the tools for individuals, health professionals, institutions, and governments to proactively assess and improve the underlying determinants of health, from the socioeconomic agents to the molecular basis of disease. From primary health care to precision medicine.

Resources

• Website: https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/GNU_Health -> GNU Health HMIS Node Technical Guide
• Source Code: https://savannah.gnu.org/hg/?group=health
• Article
  • Open Source Digital Health Software for Resilient, Accessible, and Equitable Healthcare Systems. Contribution from the IMIA Open Source Working Group May 2022. IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2022 Chris Paton, Jørn Braa, Andrew Muhire, Luis Marco-Ruiz, Shinji Kobayashi, Hamish Fraser, Luis Falcón, Alvin Marcelo
  • Using Open Source, Open Data, and Civic Technology to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic and Infodemic. April 2021 Yearbook of Medical Informatics. Shinji Kobayashi, Luis Falcón, Hamish Fraser, Jørn Braa, Pamod Amarakoon, Alvin Marcelo, Chris Paton
  • GNU Health: A Free/Libre Community-based Health Information System August 2016. OpenSym '16: Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Open Collaboration Luis Falcón
  • Moving Beyond eHealth Systems for 'People Like Us.'January 2013. Studies in Health Informatics Paul Turner, Andre Kushniruk, Pernille Bertelsen, Luis Falcon, Chris Showell
  • Collaboration, Openness, Transparency, and Trust as Prerequisite for High Quality, Effective and Efficient Health Care MEDINFO 2013. Thomas Karopka, Syed Mohamed Aljunid, Nurhizam Safie, Luis Falcon, Holger Schmuhl, Kjeld Lisby