This project showcases the successful integration of SNOMED CT into Bahmni, a widely implemented open-source EMR & hospital system recognized as a Digital Public Good. With a focus on enabling SNOMED CT use in low-resource and digitally maturing settings, our endeavor aims not only to demonstrate high-value features but also to set a benchmark for other software vendors to follow.

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Bahmni is an easy to use, complete, open source Hospital Information System (HIS) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) under development since November 2012.

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Introduction

Bahmni, with its user-friendly interface and robust community support through the Bahmni Coalition, has been implemented in over 500 sites across 50+ countries, managing 2M+ patient records. Despite its initial lack of native SNOMED CT support, our project embarked on a journey to integrate this powerful clinical terminology system into Bahmni, enhancing its capabilities and usability.

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Our implementation team collaborated closely with the Bahmni development team to achieve two primary goals: first, to enable the recording of data using SNOMED CT, and second, to leverage SNOMED CT to deliver tangible benefits to users. Through this partnership, we have successfully implemented various features that demonstrate the versatility and effectiveness of SNOMED CT within Bahmni.

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Key Features

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Diagnosis Search and Save

Our system follows best practice search methodologies, allowing users to search using multiple prefix any order search terms across all active synonyms. Users are presented with SNOMED Preferred Terms, constrained to an appropriate subset of concepts for streamlined usability.

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Procedure Order Entry

We have developed a user-friendly interface, specifically designed for touch devices, for procedure selection. Leveraging an existing curated list of procedures mapped to SNOMED CT, our system organizes procedures by body structure for intuitive navigation.

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Medication Clinical Decision Support

We provide a curated set of SNOMED CT "clinical drugs" and offer clinical decision support for condition-drug contraindications, drug-drug contraindications, and drug dose warnings, enhancing patient safety and medication management.

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Interoperability Features

Our system automatically generates ICD-10 reports and facilitates terminology binding for interoperability frameworks. Patient data is represented using FHIR standards, ensuring seamless integration with other healthcare systems.

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Our innovative architecture, which loosely couples a FHIR Terminology Server with the OpenMRS Dictionary, ensures scalability and flexibility for future enhancements. Through our project, we not only gained valuable implementation experience but also created an implementation exemplar for others to follow, advancing the adoption of SNOMED CT in EMR systems worldwide. Join us in revolutionizing healthcare delivery with Bahmni and SNOMED C

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Demonstration

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