GNU Health

Last updated
GNU Health
Original author(s) Luis Falcón
Developer(s) GNU Project
Initial release12 October 2008;15 years ago (2008-10-12)
Stable release
4.4.0 [1]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 23 December 2023
Repository
Written in Python, Tryton framework
Operating system Cross-platform
Type Hospital Information System
License GPL-3.0-or-later
Website www.gnuhealth.org

GNU Health is a free/libre health and hospital information system [2] with strong focus on public health and social medicine. Its functionality includes management of electronic health records and laboratory information management system. [3]

Contents

It is designed to be multi-platform, supporting Linux distributions and FreeBSD on the server side. It uses PostgreSQL as its database engine. It is written in Python and uses the Tryton framework as one of its components.

GNU Health has been adopted by the United Nations University. [4] In 2011, it became a GNU official package. It was awarded Best Project of Social Benefit from the Free Software Foundation at LibrePlanet 2012, at University of Massachusetts Boston. [5]

GNU Health is a project of GNU Solidario, a non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) that works in the areas of health and education with free software.

History

GNU Health started in 2008 by Luis Falcón as a project for health promotion and disease prevention in rural areas. Its initial name was Medical. It has since evolved into a hospital information system, with a multi-disciplinary international team of contributors.

In August 2011, Richard Stallman declared GNU Health an official GNU Package. Following this, development was moved from SourceForge to GNU Savannah.

Usage

GNU Health is intended for health institutions and governments, with functionality to take care of the daily clinical practice, manage resources, and to improve public health.

Features

GNU Health uses a modular approach around the kernel, with different functionality that can be included to meet the health center's needs. Some of the main packages are:

PackageFunctionality
HealthCore package. Includes demographics, patients, evaluations, health centers, appointments, vaccinations, medicaments, health conditions, health professionals and other core models and functionality.
AccountingFunctionality for bookkeeping: Chart of Accounts, General Ledger, Invoice handling, cash journals etc.
PediatricsMain package for pediatrics (including neonatal information and pediatric psychosocial assessments).
Pediatric Growth ChartsIncludes World Health Organization percentile and z-scores charts.
Gynecology and ObstetricsGynecology, obstetrics, perinatal and puerperium assessment and history.
LifestylePhysical exercise, diets, drug addictions, National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) recreational drug database, Henningfield ratings, sexuality, risk factors, home safety, child safety.
GeneticsPerson genetic information and family history. Includes 4200+ "disease genes" from the NCBI/GeneCards.
Genetics Uniprot UniProt database on human protein natural variants and phenotypes.
Lab Laboratory information management system functionality.
SocioeconomicsAssessment and history of education, occupation, living conditions, hostile areas, child labor and prostitution, among others.
InpatientHospitalization, bed, operating room management. Inpatient care and nursing plans.
SurgeryPre-operation checklist, procedures, operating rooms, patient surgery history.
ServicesGroups health related services for the patient. It also allows generating invoices and billing the selected services.
CalendarCalDAV and WebDAV server. Manages appointments, hospitalizations, bed and other resources.
QR CodesIncludes QR codes for identification on persons, patients and lab orders.
HistoryReports for patient demographics and medical history. Electronic Health Record EHR
MDG6 Millennium Development Goal 6: Functionality to fight malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
ReportingDemographic, epidemiological and health center related information.
NursingNursing functionality. Patient roundings, medication administration and procedures.
ICUBasic intensive-care unit assessment, history and patient management.
StockPharmacy and locations stock management. Automatic stock moves generation on medical procedures.
NTDBase module to cover neglected tropical diseases.
NTD ChagasNTD submodule for vector control, diagnosis, and management of chagas disease.
NTD DengueNTD submodule for vector control, diagnosis, and management of dengue fever.
Imaging Diagnostic Imaging orders management functionality.
OrthancModule for integration with Orthanc PACS Server
FederationIntegration with the GNU Health Federation
CryptoSupport for document digest/record integrity check with hash functions; digital signatures and GNU Privacy Guard plugin.
ArchivesFunctionality to track legacy or paper-based patient health records.
OphthalmologyBasic ophthalmology and optometry functionality.
Functioning and DisabilityBased on WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and Laos Center of Medical Rehabilitation.
ICD9 Vol 3WHO ICD-9-CM Volume 3 procedure codes.
ICD10WHO ICD-10 International Classification of Diseases - 10th revision
ICD11WHO ICD-11 International Classification of Diseases - 11th revision
ICPMWHO International Classification of Procedures in Medicine.
ICD10 PCSProcedure Coding System extension
InsuranceInsurance and pricelists on services and products management.
EMSAmbulance and Emergency Management System.
Contact tracing Assessment, identification and followup of people who may have come into contact with an infected individual.

Reception


Project milestones

GNUHealthCon

GNUHealthCon [20] is an annual conference organized by GNU Solidario. It provides the space for developers, implementers and community members to meet in person during three days. It includes sessions about social medicine, technical discussions, implementation cases and workshops.

GNU Health Social Medicine awards

GNU Health Social Medicine awards ceremony is part of GNUHealthCon. The awards recognize the role of individuals and organizations committed to improve the lives of the underprivileged. There are three award categories: Individual, Organization and GNU Health Implementation.

GNU Health Social Medicine Awards [21]

YearIndividualOrganizationGNU Health Implementation
2016 Richard Stallman Red Cross Laos Center of Medical Rehabilitation (CMR) [22]
2017Lorena Enebral [23] National University of Entre Ríos Bikop Medical Center [21] [24]
2018Jose Caminero Luna Tor Project Bafia District Hospital
2019 Aaron Swartz Animal Free Research UK Jamaica Ministry of Health
2020 Angela Davis Proactiva Open Arms Municipality of Diamante, Argentina [25]
2021Luna Reyes Segura [26] Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Insolàfrica [27]
2022Teresita Guadalupe Calzia [28] Franz Weber Foundation Cirugía Solidaria [29]
2023Sébastien Jodogne [30] Leibniz University Hannover Fundación Jérôme Lejeune Argentina [31]

See also

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References

  1. Luis Falcón (23 December 2023). "GNU Health Hospital Management 4.4 released!".
  2. Ardis Hanson and Bruce Lubotsky Levin (2012). Mental Health Informatics. Oxford University Press. pp. 244 - 245
  3. "GNU LIMS: Laboratory Information Management System for Healthcare and Biomedical Sectors".
  4. "Memorandums of Understanding - International Institute for Global Health". Archived from the original on 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
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  6. "ICT for Improving Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health". 14 May 2013.
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  12. "When Free Software Depends on Nonfree". 11 April 2016.
  13. "[Health-announce] GNU Health 2.8 is out !". lists.gnu.org.
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  15. "GNU Health - News: GNU Health 3.2 released [Savannah]". savannah.gnu.org.
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  21. 1 2 "GNUHealthCON 2017 - II International GNU Health Conference". www.gnuhealthcon.org.
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  23. Mashal, Mujib (September 11, 2017). "She Was Teaching Him to Walk. He Shot Her From His Wheelchair". The New York Times.
  24. "Premio GNU - Social Medicine Award (2017)". November 25, 2017.
  25. "GNU Health Social Medicine Awards 2020". November 21, 2020.
  26. Kassam, Ashifa (May 20, 2021). "Spanish aid volunteer abused online for hugging Senegalese migrant". The Guardian.
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  28. "GNU Health Planet - Social Medicine Awards". November 18, 2022.
  29. "Medical Campaign uses GNU Health, openSUSE". October 19, 2022.
  30. "GNU Health Social Medicine Awards 2023".
  31. "GNU Health Social Medicine Awards 2023".

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