ClearHealth/MirrorMed 2008 Review

From GPLMedicine

Contents 1 ClearHealth 2 History 3 Trademark of ClearHealth 4 ClearHealth Websites 5 Demo ClearHealth 6 Supported Platforms 7 Minimum Requirements for Installation 8 ClearHealth Installation 9 ClearHealth Installation Procedure 9.1 Downloading and Installing ClearHealth 9.2 Using the ClearHealth Installation Wizard 9.3 Installation - Data Collection 9.4 ClearHealth Installation Test 9.5 ClearHealth Installation 10 ClearHealth Overview 11 Main Interface 11.1 Calender 11.2 Patient 11.2.1 Demographics 11.2.2 Criticals 11.2.3 Notes 11.2.4 Insurers 11.2.5 Encounters 11.2.6 Appointments 11.3 Queues 11.4 Bill 11.5 Admin 11.6 Vitals

ClearHealth

History

ClearHealth was originally formed by Fred Trotter and David Uhlman. Fred Trotter was a core developer on the FreeMED project and David Uhlman was a core developer on the OpenEMR project. David is the CEO of ClearHealth (was Uversa) and Fred Trotter was hired by Uversa as the project manager for ClearHealth. Trotter resigned from Uversa and now heads the MirrorMed project for SynSeer.

ClearHealth and MirrorMed are two different trademarks for the same codebase. ClearHealth and SynSeer cooperatively develop the codebase, however ClearHealth trademark policies do not allow other companies to offer support services under that name. As a result, SynSeer uses the MirrorMed trademark for the same codebase.

Recently, Resolution Systems has started supporting the codebase under the trademark Resolution EMR

Trademark of ClearHealth

ClearHealth is the trademark of ClearHealth Inc. ClearHealth (the company) has strict rules for the use of its trademark. There is a good discussion on the clearhealth forums about the rules for using the ClearHealth name. MirrorMed is the trademark of SynSeer. SynSeer does not allow the use of the trademark by other companies, for the time being. Here are the MirrorMed and FreeB trademark use guidelines

ClearHealth Websites

• Main page [1]
• Support Forum [2]

Demo ClearHealth

• Click Here to Demo ClearHealth [3]

Supported Platforms

• Linux

Minimum Requirements for Installation

• CPU Processor - 1GHZ or better
• RAM - 256 MB or more
• Hard Drive - 40 GB or larger

ClearHealth Installation

• Installation was done on a Linux Operating System (CentOS)

ClearHealth Installation Procedure

* Installation Guide [4]

Before installing ClearHealth, the following software is required:

1. Apache with PHP 5.1.X
2. MySQL 5.X

Downloading and Installing ClearHealth

• Go to:

     http://www.op-en.org

• Select Snapshot to download the installation.
• Once downloaded, extract the installation to the web root on your server.
• Once the installation is in the web root of your web server, go to the URL of your web server and follow the instructions.

Using the ClearHealth Installation Wizard

The ClearHealth Installation Wizard is designed to guide you step-by-step through the installation process. 
You may proceed to the next step in the wizard by clicking the continue link located in the lower right hand corner of the screen. 
To restart the installation process simple click the restart installation link located in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

Installation - Data Collection

• The first screen allows you to input database connection information.
• The database user needs permission to create new tables during the installation process.
• It it recommended that you create a database user just for ClearHealth's use.
• If MySQL is running on the same server then use local host as the Database Server

     If MySQL is running on an alternate server then use that server's host name or ip address as the entry for Database Server.

• Select a Database Name for your database and enter it the text box.
• Once you have completed these fields, select Save.
• The Installation Wizard will run a ClearHealth Installation Test.

ClearHealth Installation Test

• Any problems the ClearHealth Installation Wizard detects will be flagged with a red check mark.
• The most common error is that the web server will not be able to write to the temporary directories.
• The paths to those directories will be specified on the screen.
• The solution to this is to change the permissions of the listed directories on the web server.
• To rerun the test click on your web browser's refresh button.
• Once you receive no red flagged messages you may click continue to proceed.

ClearHealth Installation

   Before you can continue your installation of ClearHealth you must agree to the terms of the GNU Public License. 
   Please read the terms carefully and select I Agree to continue.

• After you have agreed, the main database files will be installed.
• You will then be given a chance to select code packages to install.
• These code packages must be installed one at a time.
• Please note that it may take several minutes to install these because they contain thousands of entries.
• Select the package you wish to install and click the Install File button.
• Once you have finished installing the desired code packages click Done.
• You will be prompted to once again select continue.
• Once ClearHealth has finished installing you will be redirected to an end page.
• From there you may begin using ClearHealth.

ClearHealth Overview

ClearHealth Interface looks professional with the Calender/Scheduler after logging and looks simple with only 4 tabs. But each tab is robust with a lot of features. ClearHealth seems a complete health record solution for Clinics with 'Billing' feature(which many other opensource EHRs don't have).

Main Interface

All the features of ClearHealth are available under 4 tabs namely 'Calender', 'Patient', 'Bill' and 'Admin'. Though it looks simple with these tabs. Each tab in turn have more options.

Calender

The Scheduler in Clearhealth looks professional with colors and appointments. It has 15 min slots which can be scheduled for of all the tasks listed(encounter, lab, general visit etc...). Clicking on any of the slots opens a small window to configure it. The window shows Appoinments for all the Staff so that a Front desk personnel can manage it very easily. The default is Day wise and can be adjusted display Calender Month or Year wise. On the Appointment itself there are links to view the Particular Patient data, Edit the Encounter, Cancel/Edit the Appointment. The Calender is Printable for convenience.

Patient

The interface of Clearhealth differs from the rest of EHR softwares. It shows overview of the patient activity in the default view in order of Demographics, Criticals, Notes, Insurers, Encounters, Appointments and Queues on the same page one below the other. Though this makes the page cluttered to see, it is more informative and gives a clear idea of what is going on with the patient just in a single sheet. In addition we can selectively view,add or edit information using the tabs such as Actions, Reports, Form-Fillout, Patient Data and Summaries.

Demographics

Details like Name, ID, Sex, Age, Address, Provider are listed with a link to view the statistics like ethnicity, race, income, language, monthly income, family size etc...

Criticals

Self management goals, Immunizations, Assessments, Problem lists, Allergies, Medications and Planned care are listed in a tabular form. Each form can be accessed and edited.

Notes

Reminders for the patient will be listed here. Arranged chronologically, they also show details like importance and status for each note.

Insurers

List of all the Insurance programs under which the patient is covered are listed here along with the details of insurance plans (program, group name& no, co-pay, status, etc...).

Encounters

Encounters with the physicians are listed in an order. Clicking on the respective encounter takes you to the encounter elaborated view. It has sub sections to record every detail of the encounter. In the same page are seen details for claims and insurance providers to make it easy. Coming to the encounter details, the sections are conveniently divided in to encounter summary, physical exams, subjective, objective, Assessment, Plan, Immunization, Social history, Referring provider, Treatment Plan. Every section has a separate form to store the data. It also lists any procedures performed at encounter to claim.

Appointments

If we want to know details about all the visits of the patient with the hospital, "Appointments" section is the one. All the visits, purpose of the visit, time, provider, etc... are listed. We can access all the information about the visits here.

Queues

Queues are a convenient way to make multiple appointments for the patient. If a specific intervention needs the patient to come to hospital repeatedly, we can use Queues to make the appointments. For example Cholesterol checkups and Breast cancer follow-ups require more than one visit and just by selecting the condition, future appointments are scheduled.

Bill

Searching for the claims by name of patient(and other details)here to see the claims listed with status. Account histories are also a part of this page. Claims are linked to Encounters conveniently and are ready to be submitted whenever an encounter is closed. Claims are color coded to show the status.

Admin

Administrative level of access is need to configure the total look of ClearHealth. Configuration can be done before using the EHR for the first time or it can be edited with running EHR. Tasks like managing Providers and Users, Staff etc... can be done here. It is easy to add new menus to respective sections of the EHR here.

Vitals

Vitals can be added as custom made menus depending on the choice of physician or the ward in which the patient would be admitted. This can be done manually by writing a simple html code and adding it from Admin section to the Encounters.