Maxims code to be released on GitHub

IMS Maxims will release the source code for its electronic patient record system on GitHub, the company announced today.

Speaking in the open source pavilion at the HC2014 conference in Manchester Paul Cooper, IMS Maxim’s head of research, said the company has been in talks for several months about how best to go about open sourcing parts of its Maxims EPR.

“It’s been a long journey. We first said we were going to do this months ago and since then there have been a lot of twists. What we’re learning is that open source means different things to different people,” he said.

“We are now at the stage where we will be putting the Maxims source code on GitHub. We’re making the product itself open source. The toolset will be made available using a free license model.”

GitHub is an open source collaboration review and code management platform. The software will be available on a GNU Lesser General Public License, which includes the source code, the configuration data and the integrated care pathways.

The announcement comes as Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust picked IMS Maxims as preferred bidder to supply its EPR earlier this month. The trust is likely to become the first acute NHS trust to implement an open source EPR.

Cooper said he hopes making the software open source means more NHS trusts will be interested in taking the system.

“It’s creating lots of opportunities for us. Lots of people are interested in open source. As contracts are coming to an end, trusts are looking seriously at their budgets and if we can make cost savings on offering the software free, that’s great,” said Cooper.

“It also means they don’t have to go through an expensive OJEU process as it’s free to use so it falls below the OJEU threshold.”

He added that IMS Maxims will be offering implementation and support services to anyone that takes the system.

The system includes modules such as a patient administration system, A&E, theatres and reporting modules, but does not have maternity, e-prescribing, patient portal and bedside observations.

Cooper said that the company is “very keen” to work with other open source providers.

“By making Maxims available to a wider audience there will be a greater community of users that can contribute in partnership to make the system better,” he said.

The source code will be released in the very near future, but no date has yet been set.