2008 OpenMRS Implementers Meeting

OpenMRS Implementers Meeting – 17-20 June 2008 – Elangeni Hotel, Durban, South Africa.

On behalf of the OpenMRS community and our funders, the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Health Organization, the Fogarty International Centre, National Institutes of Health, USA, and the South African Medical Research Council we invite you to the OpenMRS Implementers Meeting from 17-20 June 2008 at the Elangeni Hotel, Durban, South Africa.  The Meeting will be held in association with the biannual Health Informatics in South Africa Conference (www.hisa.co.za) and the Open Source Healthcare Alliance (Africa Chapter).

Prospective attendees should complete the registration form on the HISA web site (http://hisa.airwave.co.za/?display=registration&heading=Registration).   Please enter the word `OpenMRS’ in the space reserved for the SAHIA Membership Number.

A satellite meeting devoted to open source mobile (PDA, Cell phone) health application development and mobile health data collection, hosted by the OpenROSA consortium, will be held on Monday 16 June 2008 at the same venue.  A limited number of places are available and prospective attendees should contact the organizer, Dr Chris Seebregts (chris.seebregts-at-mrc.ac.za) or the meeting administrator, Anthea van Blerk (anthea.van.blerk-at-mrc.ac.za), directly, providing details of the applicant, organization, contact details and reason for wanting to attend.

The Full Programme for both events is still being finalized.  However, an interim version is available on the conference web site and updates are published from time to time.  If you would like to present an existing OpenMRS implementation or a requirement at the meeting, please contact the organizer, Dr Chris Seebregts (chris.seebregts-at-mrc.ac.za).

The meeting will include many of the core developers of OpenMRS and representatives from the main implementation sites and is a great opportunity to share experiences of implementing OpenMRS and participate in the design of future applications of the technology.  The meeting will have significant technical content including a developer codefest and interoperability workshop that will include other open source health software.  There will be ample opportunity for existing implementers to advance their knowledge of OpenMRS and learn advanced techniques as well as for new implementers to get a jump start on implementing OpenMRS.

Key topics to be covered include:

• Implementation of OpenMRS and HIV patient and treatment management systems in African developing countries
• New technical developments including OpenMRS at the hospital and enterprise level, interoperability with other health information system applications and mobile data collection systems
• Design and development of mobile data collection applications using OpenMRS and open source form editors
• OpenMRS technology training (concept dictionary development, installation and deployment, forms development etc)

Who should attend

• Existing and new implementers of OpenMRS and electronic medical record systems
• Developers of health data collection applications
• Mangers of health facilities with a requirement for data collection
• Open source developers

A limited amount of funding is available to assist with the travel and accommodation costs of existing or prospective OpenMRS implementers from Africa or other developing countries who do not have institutional funding. Please send details of the applicant, organization, contact details and a motivation for why you want to attend this meeting including details of any existing or planned OpenMRS Implementation and e-mail to Anthea van Blerk (anthea.van.blerk@mrc.ac.za).

Contact details
Anthea van Blerk
E-mail: anthea.van.blerk-at-mrc.ac.za
Tel: 27 21 938 0851

Dr Chris Seebregts
E-mail : chris.seebregts-at-mrc.ac.za
Tel: 27 21 938 0318

Biomedical Informatics Research Division, e-Health Research and Innovation Platform, Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa