Getting Started With OSCAR - The Homework

You want to deploy an EMR and you are scratching your head trying to figure out where to begin.

The first thing to do is shop around.

OSCAR is a wonderfully powerful and easy to use EMR. It is also, by far, the most cost effective solution of any available (as you know, OSCAR has $0 licensing fees). OSCAR is the only OntarioMD certified open source EMR. OSCAR is only EMR that, by design and legal license, can never lock you out of your system, nor block your access to your patient information. Forever.

However, there are other EMR options. Please check out the market leader Practice Solutions. Practice Solutions is owned by the CMA and thus you will have some level of confidence that the organization will be around for a while.

While comparing OSCAR to Practice Solutions, notice that the user interfaces on both the solutions are easy to use and based on modern architectural paradigms. Both OSCAR and Practice Solutions both offer a similar range of functionality and features and both offer support for similar governmental and technical standards.

OSCAR and Practice Solutions have dramatically different commercial and licensing models.

While shopping around, it is very important that you understand not only the day to day costs and fees, but also the legal rights that you retain for both yourself and the data that you enter into the EMR. Read the fine print. OSCAR's license agreement can be found here.

OSCAR is an open source licensed solution and is free of software bombs. Practice Solutions is not open source and does contain software bombs.

There are other EMR vendors available, and you should evaluate all of them, but chances are your choice will come down to the two market leaders: OSCAR, the #1 open source EMR in Canada, and Practice Solutions, the #1 closed source EMR in Canada.

OSCAR vs. Practice Solutions

OSCAR and Practice Solutions have become the two must-have EMR finalists on your shortlist evaluation when making a decision on which EMR to choose in Ontario.

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Practice Solutions and OSCAR are both government certified, standards supporting and based on modern architectural and user interface paradigms. Furthermore, both OSCAR and Practice Solutions will support either hosted or local deployment models.

From a user's perspective, the Graphical User Interface is the most important, make-it-or-break-it function within an EMR. Put simply, without a modern, freeform based data input model, your EMR will slow you down and frustrate you on a daily basis.

Luckily, both OSCAR and Practice Solutions have implemented very similar user experiences.

And so, considering both have similar certifications, support similar standards, offer equivalent functionality, and are both based on modern, user friendly interfaces, how does one decide on which EMR to deploy?

If you want to go with the EMR with the largest market share, the one owned by the Canadian Medical Association, then your choice is clear - Practice Solutions is your choice. It is not a bad choice. Practice Solutions EMR is a reasonably architected, user friendly software application. The CMA is a very large organization with many resources and significant assets.

OSCAR, on the other hand, continues to beat Practice Solutions in numerous head to head competitions. OSCAR has become the EMR of choice for practitioners that care about ease of use, cost, choice of supplier, platform flexibility, and data stewardship.

The OSCAR advantage is significant and hard to ignore.

• OSCAR costs significantly less. OSCAR is the least expensive, full featured and fully certified EMR to deploy and operate. There are no license fees. You do not have to pay annual support fees forever.


• OSCAR is open source. You own your data. No one has the right to take that data away from you.


• OSCAR is free of software bombs. You can not be locked out of your system by your vendor because you did not pay your annual maintenance fee, or whatever other reason your vendor may dream up. There are no back-doors in OSCAR. There are no super user passwords that change everyday without your knowledge or consent. Your OSCAR EMR is your EMR.


• OSCAR runs on commodity hardware. Any computer workstation that has a web browser is capable of running OSCAR. You do not need to purchase all new top of the line workstations. In most cases, your existing workstations will be just fine.


• OSCAR is open to end user modifications and enhancements. You are free to change OSCAR to meet your specific needs. You do not have to ask for permission.


• OSCAR is available from multiple sources. Whether you support your own OSCAR installation or choose from one of many OSCAR support companies, you are free to pick the supplier that satisfies your specific requirements.

OSCAR versus Practice Solutions. OSCAR gives you more of what you want and less of what you didn't know you were about to get.