Google Season of Docs Project Proposal

Create Getting Started Guide for New Users- OpenEMR

The OpenEMR community is submitting an application for the 2023 Google Summer of Code.

About OpenEMR

Around the globe, medical practices in countries such as Kenya and Argentina help make OpenEMR one of the most popular open-source electronic health record (EHR) solutions. Our broad feature set includes patient demographics, appointments, prescriptions, billing, reports, clinical decision support, lab integration, and free support. ONC Certified with leadership from active board members, we strive to be a superior alternative to our proprietary counterparts.

OpenEMR was developed by medical providers, for medical providers. It is maintained and supported by a vibrant community of volunteers and professionals, including several hundred contributors and more than 40 companies. Since its release in 2002, OpenEMR has been used by facilities in more than 100 countries and translated into 34 languages. Over 100,000 medical providers serving more than 200 million patients are estimated to use OpenEMR. Open-source software has changed the world for the better, and OpenEMR is a prime example. We are committed to the education of students in the fields of open source software and EHRs, and would love the chance to expand our impact through Google Season of Docs.

Check us Out

For more information about OpenEMR, please visit the following links:

• Organization: https://www.open-emr.org
• Source code: https://github.com/openemr/openemr
• Documentation: https://www.open-emr.org/wiki/index.php/OpenEMR_Wiki_Home_Page
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@openemr3787
• Forum (free support): https://community.open-emr.org/

OpenEMR's Google Season of Docs 2023 Project

Problem Statement

Existing documentation has a wealth of information, ranging from project tools to manuals, but is difficult for new users to navigate. The onboarding experience is unclear, so the documentation mainly functions as a reference. Potential contributors and new clinics invest time trying to find information on the wiki, open issues on GitHub and/or the Forum to get help, or give up altogether. It is particularly difficult for technical writers to identify how they can help.

Retaining more contributors and clinics will help OpenEMR grow, increasing its impact on medical practices around the world!

Scope

The OpenEMR project will:

• Conduct an audience analysis to better understand OpenEMR users and their diverse needs.

• Release a survey querying community experiences with the existing documentation.

• With the needs of each user in mind, audit current documentation to identify areas for improvement.

• Create a "getting started guide" that is useful for new users, easy to follow, and comprehensive.
  • We plan to address the unique needs of each user independently, so users won't become overwhelmed or distracted by irrelevant information.
  • Where possible, we will encourage the user to learn by doing.

• Establish a process for keeping the "getting started guide" up-to-date.

• Analyze survey results and prioritize unaddressed changes.
  • We plan to prioritize improvements that benefit both new and current users, have a large impact, and are feasible within the remaining time left in the project.

Work that is out of scope for this project:

• Social media engagement.
• Resolving new bugs that are discovered while working on documentation.
  • Technical writer will note issue in GitHub so it can be addressed by developers.

Project Budget

Item	Amount ($)	Notes
Technical Writer	7,680	10 hours/week for 16 weeks
Volunteer Stipends	1,000	2 stipends at $500 each
Total	8,680

Unclaimed expenses will be re-invested into new development efforts such as hybrid inpatient/outpatient support, low-cost medical devices connectivity, and other commonly requested solutions.