Edge infrastructure for COVID19 isolation support

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Hello,

I’m new to this community, therefore, please let me know if I’m not using this forum appropriately.

We are an SME based in Geneva, Switzerland. We develop open source software that we exploit running an edge computing platform as a Service. Recently, we have been involved in two projects that have put us on the path of OpenMRS.

The first one is an NGO here in Geneva using our service to host OpenMRS (and other open source apps) on small edge servers, such that they run autonomously, and are remotely managed (when there’s an internet connection). They have containerised OpenMRS (using Docker), such that it’s easy to deploy it on any edge device our platform manages. And since our edge software runs on pretty much any hardware (Raspberry Pi and x86), users simply choose the hardware that matches their application needs. So this means that our customer can run a local OpenMRS server, on cheap and robust hardware, without needing IT expertise in the field (e.g. field clinics).

The second project is about providing IT support services for people running isolation services to citizens having caught COVID19. Here the challenge is to provide a simple solution to 1. regularly take body temperature to assess case severity, 2. ensure patents remain in isolation, and warn carers if a patent is not in isolation anymore, or not in the right quarantine zone (e.g. by severity of symptoms).

I think OpenMRS is a good match for the temperature recording use-case. We are still looking for a solution for patients tracking. And we are mindful that this feature doesn’t lead to abuse. In poor countries, not all citizens have smart phones, and therefore need another solution.

Our intention is to leverage OpenMRS to centralise aggregated data on patients, such that policy makers can follow the trend of the epidemics.

If this usage of OpenMRS interests the community, and you think it would make sense to replicate or leverage in your region, let me know.

Stay safe, kind and watch each other.

Kind regards,

Meb

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I think anything you might be able to share about how you leverage OpenMRS for patient tracking could be of interest to the community.

There might also be some interest if you can share some information about how you go about deploying and managing the configuration for the OpenMRS instances, since OpenMRS generally needs at least some customization to be a clinically useful too.

Also, any work you’re doing to use OpenMRS to help track epidemics is definitely of interest as we are in the process of trying to identify common needs for epidemic tracking so that we can provide a generic solution for this unfortunately all-to-common problem.

And, hey, welcome to OpenMRS Talk! It’s great to discover what people are doing with the platform!

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There is also a slack channel about COVID-19 response: https://app.slack.com/client/T03U4PGDY/CVCQB5CLE/thread/DPERW7FR8-1585752611.001900

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And a talk #projects:covid-19 category specifically for COVID-19, though the Slack channel is a bit more active.

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Thanks both. Could someone invite me to the Slack channel?

Anybody has heard of location tracking integration with OpenMRS (I’m not sure it actually makes sense, but there).

Cheers,

Meb

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You can sign-up here.

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@mebster, welcome! As you can tell, there are quite a few people in our community interested in and working on COVID-19 solutions like the ones you mention. In addition to the COVID-19 dedicated spaces that @ibacher and @akanter have shared, we have a weekly meeting to help share and coordinate work. And we’ve set up a Wiki page that outlines our ideas and has more information about meeting times and places.

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@jennifer I missed last week’s meeting, but will make sure I join the next. Thanks very much for the invitation.

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We have created a ‘one-pager’ to bring our thoughts together. I hope it is helpful. Inputs into its value and relevance would be very much appreciated, especially from an OpenMRS point of view. You can read it here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f03z5hv75c9a8hb/Covid-19-isolation-solution.pdf?dl=0