Support

From OpenEMR Project Wiki

Overview

A huge advantage of open source software is the ability to choose whom will provide you support, so you are NOT locked into one vendor when you choose OpenEMR. And if you don't like your current model of support or vendor, then it is very easy to change. Depending on your comfort level, the options for support include:
  1. Doing it yourself.
  2. Hiring a third party(or employee(s)) to support you.
  3. Somewhere in between.

Free Support

The mechanisms of free support by the community include the documentation found on this site (especially the wiki) and the active forums (about 30 posts per day) found on this site. There are clinics that have gone this route successfully, however this does require IT knowledge to ensure security, reliability and backing up of OpenEMR.

Professional Support

A huge advantage of open source software is the ability to choose whom will provide you support, so you are NOT locked into one vendor when you choose OpenEMR. You are free to hire (and fire) whomever you want to support your EMR software. For example, if you do not like the rates or customer service of your current vendor, then you can simply fire them and then hire another vendor to support your current OpenEMR installation; the software doesn't change, just the support staff. As a consumer, this gives you a huge amount of leverage when working with your vendor.
How do I choose a vendor? There are several things to consider when choosing a vendor/developer to support OpenEMR. We provide a list of Professional Support, whom are vendors/developers that specifically support OpenEMR. We also provide a list of vendors/developers that are 'Certified OpenEMR Contributors' whom have demonstrated an ongoing competence in OpenEMR development.
  • Ensure the vendor/developer has experience with OpenEMR
  • If planning customizing the software (which is very common and another huge advantage to open source software), then recommend ensuring the vendor/developer has demonstrated competence in developing code for OpenEMR
Professional Support: The OpenEMR project has a large number of vendors and individuals who offer their services supporting, installing, hosting and customizing OpenEMR.