GNU Health

GNU Health
Original author(s)	Luis Falcón
Developer(s)	GNU Solidario
Initial release	August 16, 2011 (1.3.0)
Stable release	4.2.3 (September 24, 2023; 14 months ago) [±]
Preview release	none [±]
Written in	Python
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Laboratory informatics software
License(s)	GNU General Public License v3.0
Website	health.gnu.org

GNU Health is a free open-source hospital information system (HIS), notably used by United Nations University - International Institute for Global Health.

Product history

GNU Health actually began in late 2008 as Medical (which was based off of the open-source project OpenERP), a free SourceForge-based software designed to run a medical clinic or small hospital.^[2] Development steadily continued on the Medical project, gaining popularity in the public health sector. In April 2011, the development team learned OpenERP was no longer publicly making its scripts available, and a support contract would be needed to make any further upgrades. Development immediately shifted away from the OpenERP platform to the Tryton platform.^[3] That same month Thymbra, the entity that held the rights to Medical, transfered the Medical project to non-profit GNU Solidario.^[4]^[5] By the beginning of July, the software had changed names to GNU Health and had been demoed — with the Tryton platform — at the International Institute of Global Health.^[6]

On August 16, 2011, the first major release of the new GNU Health application occurred in the form of version 1.3.0.^[1] An updated 1.3.3 arrived a month later.^[7]

Known release dates of GNU Health (2013 and prior) are as follows:

Version	Release date
2.0.0	08 July 2013^[8]
1.8.1	18 March 2013^[8]
1.8.0	10 February 2013^[8]
1.6.4	25 October 2012^[8]
1.6.3	28 August 2012^[9]
1.6.2	18 June 2012^[8]
1.6.1	30 May 2012^[8]
1.6.0	28 May 2012^[8]
1.4.5	20 April 2012^[8]
1.4.4	11 March 2012^[9]
1.4.3	30 January 2012^[8]
1.4.2	01 November 2011^[8]
1.4.1	30 October 2011^[9]
1.4.0	27 October 2011^[8]
1.3.3	19 September 2011^[7]
1.3.0	16 August 2011^[1]

Awards

In early 2012 the Free Software Foundation awarded GNU Health as 2011's Project of Social Benefit.^[10]

Features

Features of GNU Health include^[11]:

based on disease and medical procedure standards (ICD-10 / ICD-10-PCS)
prescription writing
billing
genetic and hereditary risk tracking
epidemiological, statistical reporting
100% paperless patient examination and history taking
patient administration
doctor administration
lab administration
pharmaceutical knowledge base
inventory management
hospital financial administration
document management

Hardware/software requirements

To effectively install GNU Health, you'll need:

PostgreSQL
Python 2.6 or greater
Tryton 2.4
Python QRCode library 2.4.1 or greater (only required for the qrcodes module)
Python PyWebDAV library 0.9.8 or greater (only required for the calendar modules)

For more on installation requirements and instructions, please refer to the technical guide.

Videos, screenshots, and other media

Screenshots of GNU Health can be found here.

An online demo exists, though it requires a Tryton installation. More information here.

Entities using GNU Health

Users of GNU Health include^[12]:

Africa Next Door, African Health Network, Dr. Oñativia Regional Center – Argentina, European Commission – JOINUP, Griya Husada Hospital, Griya Waluya Hospital, Marcelo-Padilla Hospital – Phillippines, Masaki International Clinic – Tanzania, Mojowarno Christian Hospital, Peerless Hospital, Portal do Software Público Brasileiro, San Vicente Primary Care Center – Argentina, Sharq Medical Center, The Academic Hospital Paramaribo (AZP) – Suriname, The United Nations University, Victoria Hospital – Zambia