Credit: National Cancer Institute
Our work on the electronic medical record (EMR) is part of a broader effort to strengthen the systems that support patient care — particularly in a healthcare environment where information is fragmented across different providers and settings.
Because our EMR runs on an open-source foundation used by clinics and care teams across Canada, the work we do doesn’t just stay within our organization.
Instead, improvements are developed in collaboration with a wider community and made available for others to build on.
This model helps address a significant challenge in healthcare: many systems across hospitals, primary care, and home care can’t easily connect or share patient information.
As a result, care teams often rely on workarounds like faxing or manual updates. By building on an open foundation, we’re helping create a system designed for integration from the start, allowing providers to share information more easily across care settings.
A COLLABORATIVE, OPEN-SOURCE APPROACH
Unlike closed or proprietary software that’s developed and maintained by a single organization, open-source platforms allow many contributors to improve the same system over time.
At Magenta Health, this means:
Working closely with external developers and contributors
Contributing improvements back to the EMR community
Designing tools that are flexible and adaptable across different clinical environments
When we develop new features or enhancements, we do so with the understanding that they may be used in a variety of care settings.
As a result, every improvement is built with a wider audience in mind — not just our own workflows, but the needs of clinics and care teams using the same system.
LEARNING FROM THE OPEN-SOURCE COMMUNITY
Credit: Hannah Busing
Open-source development is as much about learning as it is about sharing.
Our EMR is built on a platform that has evolved over more than 20 years, shaped by contributions from many individuals with diverse experiences across healthcare and software development.
Working in this environment allows us to:
Learn from other healthcare organizations and developers
Incorporate ideas and improvements from outside our own team
Continuously refine the system based on a wide range of use cases
This ongoing exchange of knowledge strengthens the EMR over time and ensures it evolves in ways that reflect the realities of clinical care in different settings.
A BROADER IMPACT ON CARE
Across Canada, many clinics and family physicians rely on EMR systems that are outdated, difficult to use, or disconnected from other parts of the healthcare system. This can impact access to care, the quality of care delivered, and the overall patient experience.
By contributing to a modern, open, and continuously improving EMR, we’re creating:
Better tools for clinicians
More efficient workflows
More connected and coordinated care
A stronger publicly funded healthcare system
This work is part of our broader <Better Care/> campaign, focused on improving the open-source EMR system that powers almost every aspect of patient visits.
By investing in this collaborative infrastructure, we’re building technology that can scale, adapt, and evolve over time — supporting better care for clinicians and patients across the country.
Learn more about <Better Care/> and how you can get involved in our EMR improvement efforts here.