Bahmni

Bahmni is a free, open-source EMR and hospital system for clinics and hospitals in low-resource settings, built by combining OpenMRS with billing, lab and imaging tools. If you are looking into a Bahmni download for a dental clinic, know one thing up front: Bahmni is a general hospital platform, not dental software. It has no odontogram, no tooth chart and no dental billing codes out of the box.

Where it does make sense is a hospital or multi-specialty clinic that runs a dental department alongside general outpatients, and wants one patient record, one registration desk and one billing system for everyone. Dental notes are then captured with custom observation forms that you build yourself.

Bahmni at a glance

What it does

• Patient registration with photo capture, extra identifiers and configurable demographic fields.
• Clinical consultation: vitals, diagnoses and conditions, allergies, medications, vaccinations and observation forms.
• Orders for lab tests, radiology and procedures, with results back in the patient record.
• Appointment scheduling and patient document upload (scans, referral letters, photos).
• Billing: Bahmni Lite ships with the Crater billing system; Bahmni Standard adds Odoo for billing, inventory and pharmacy, OpenELIS for the lab and DCM4CHEE for DICOM imaging.
• Form Builder in the Implementer Interface for creating your own clinical forms without programming.
• Reports, and FHIR R4 APIs for registration and clinical data in the Lite 2.0 line.

How dental teams use it

Build a dental examination form

Open the Implementer Interface, create a new form in the Form Builder and add fields for the complaint, extra-oral and intra-oral findings, tooth numbers (for example as FDI codes in a coded list), periodontal notes and a treatment plan. Publish the form, then add it to the consultation screen for the dental clinic location. There is no graphical tooth chart, so keep tooth-level data in structured fields rather than free text.

Order and attach radiographs

In Bahmni Standard, order a radiology test from the consultation; the DICOM study can be linked through the PACS integration. In Lite, upload exported periapical or panoramic images as patient documents so they sit next to the clinical note.

Bill dental procedures

Add your dental procedures as billable services in Crater (Lite) or Odoo (Standard) with your own codes. When the procedure is ordered or recorded, the charge flows to the billing system, so reception does not re-enter it.

Install and first run

• Install Docker and Docker Compose. On macOS or Windows, Docker Desktop should be given at least 8 GB of memory, as the Bahmni wiki recommends.
• Clone the official bahmni-docker repository from GitHub and open the bahmni-lite or bahmni-standard folder.
• Edit the .env file: set the profile, your time zone and, for Lite billing on a remote server, the server address.
• Start it with the run-bahmni.sh script (or docker compose up) and open the EMR in a browser.
• Gotchas: the first start pulls many images and takes a while; keep an eye on which image tags the .env file points to, because the repository also carries development tags; plan backups of the database volumes before real use.

Limitations

• No dental charting, odontogram, periodontal chart or dental claim formats.
• Needs someone comfortable with Docker, Linux and configuration files; it is not a click-to-install desktop program.
• Configuration is powerful but time-consuming; most sites rely on an implementation partner or in-house IT.
• Bahmni Lite 2.0 is a very recent release with a new React interface; test it before migrating a live clinic.
• Built for hospitals in low-resource settings; it does not include US or UK insurance billing workflows.

Bahmni vs alternatives

OpenEMR is the closer fit for a US-style practice with insurance billing and e-prescribing, though it also lacks a dental chart. GNU Health is another free hospital system and, unlike Bahmni, ships a dentistry package with an odontogram. For a standalone dental practice, dedicated dental software such as Open Dental (shareware, conditionally free) will be far less work.

FAQ

What is Bahmni EMR?

Bahmni is an open-source EMR and hospital information system that packages OpenMRS with billing, lab and imaging components into one product. It is aimed at hospitals and clinics in low-resource settings.

Is Bahmni free?

Yes. Bahmni is free and open source; its own components are licensed under AGPL 3.0, and the bundled products keep their own open-source licences. You pay only for your own hosting, support or implementation help if you need it.

Where do I get the Bahmni download?

Bahmni is installed from the official bahmni-docker repository on GitHub, using Docker Compose. There is no desktop installer; users connect with a web browser.

Is there a Bahmni demo?

The Bahmni wiki lists online demo environments for Lite and Standard, plus a YouTube playlist of demo videos. Demo data is shared and fictitious, so never enter real patient data there.

Bahmni vs OpenMRS: what is the difference?

OpenMRS is the medical record platform underneath Bahmni. Bahmni adds a ready-made clinical interface, registration, appointments, billing and optional lab and imaging systems on top of it.

Bahmni Lite vs Standard: which one should I choose?

Lite is for clinics and small hospitals: EMR, OpenMRS, reports and Crater billing. Standard adds Odoo (billing, pharmacy, inventory), OpenELIS for the lab and PACS for imaging, and needs more server resources.

Does Bahmni have a dental module?

No. Dental departments use custom forms built with the Form Builder. If you need a graphical tooth chart, look at GNU Health or dedicated dental practice software.

What is a good Bahmni alternative?

OpenEMR and GNU Health are the main free alternatives. For a single dental practice, a dental-specific system is usually the better choice.

Last checked against official sources: 26 September 2026 (developer website: bahmni.org). Versions and licence terms change — confirm on the developer's site before deploying in a clinic.