Re: [Gnumed-devel] question about gnumed and database

[J Busser]

Hi Omar,

Others more-technical will comment if my response needs correction 
but here is what I think:

At 3:57 AM +1000 5/1/05, Omar Mouline wrote:
> First, can gnuMed or some other open source database be adapted for 
> use in the vascular lab? The present database is  fairly simple 
> with patient demographics, risk factors, indications, referring 
> physician,  procedure, post-op write-up, and other drop-list 
> parameters. It is old and does not provide any statistical info 
> (i.e. how many patients under 65 had a stroke this month and how 
> many of those were stented).

Any of the database systems (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and any of the 
medical softwares built on top of them (GNUmed, others) COULD be 
extended to do this. You would have to assemble people with enough 
interest and expertise for your use case to extend the database 
"backend" to hold the additional data, and also to build or extend a 
graphical user interface (GUI) client frontend so that this data 
could be input and managed. You would also need someone to develop 
any reports you would like generated.

Keep in mind that your use case might be so specific as to fall 
outside what the project would want to take on. Stated differently, 
the project may not see fit to make the software work to suit your 
special needs, in which case you would need people to modify a local 
installation of GNUmed and/or build some pieces as add-ons. Whether 
this could be done "cleanly", so that it would not break each time 
there was a new GNUmed update, would have to be worked out with the 
project's main developers.

> Second, do you think it's feasible to run Fedora or some other form 
> of Linux on the Vasc Lab computer

sure but

>  and network them seamlessly with the hospital's Windows server 
> (I'll have to double check that but the ward terminals are running 
> win2000).

the barriers here may have more to do with institutional policies 
about what hospital IT
- chooses as server and network software
- will or will not permit to be run on its machines (like those in 
the vascular lab)
- will or will not permit to connect to its server