The system that costs less than free
Open-source health information systems are free to download. They are not free to implement, maintain, or scale. Medic8 gives you more features at a lower total cost — with billing, insurance, payroll, and FHIR R4 reporting included from day one.
Sound familiar?
If you've implemented or considered implementing an open-source health information system, you already know the hidden costs:
Implementation costs between $35,000 and $130,000.
Server procurement, developer salaries, customisation, training, and a launch timeline measured in months, not days.
Java developers are scarce and expensive.
The developers who can customise open-source health platforms are rare in East Africa. When you find them, they're expensive. When they leave, their knowledge walks out the door with them.
No integrated billing.
Open-source clinical systems track patients and diagnoses, but billing, revenue management, and insurance claims require a separate system or custom development.
No insurance management, no payroll, no donor fund accounting.
Pre-authorisation, claims, tariffs, staff salaries, PAYE, NSSF, restricted grants — each requires a separate system or expensive custom development.
Here's what Medic8 includes — out of the box
FHIR R4 & PEPFAR Reporting — Ready for every donor framework
Every clinical data point in Medic8 is stored as a FHIR R4 resource. PEPFAR MER indicators, Global Fund reporting frameworks, and WHO SMART Guidelines are supported through the FHIR API. Your programme data is accessible to donor reporting systems without custom development.
DHIS2 Direct Push — No double entry, ever
HMIS aggregate data pushes directly to Uganda's national DHIS2 instance. Your facility staff enter data once, during patient care. The reports take care of themselves.
Billing, Insurance & Revenue — Included, not extra
Full billing with mobile money, insurance claims management for unlimited schemes, revenue dashboards, and financial reporting are included in every plan above Starter. You don't need a separate financial system.
HR & Payroll — PAYE, NSSF, and leave management
Staff records, monthly payroll calculations, statutory deductions, leave balances, and duty rosters are all inside Medic8. No additional HR software required.
Donor Fund Accounting — Track every grant separately
Restricted donor funds are tracked with their own chart of accounts, separate from general revenue. Fund-specific income and expenditure reports are available on demand for donor compliance.
True Cloud — No servers, no developers, no ongoing IT costs
Medic8 runs in the cloud. There are no servers to procure, no operating systems to patch, no Java developers to hire. Updates are automatic. Backups are continuous. Your IT cost is one monthly subscription.
Three-year cost: Medic8 vs. the "free" alternative
| Cost Category | Open-Source | Medic8 (Pro) |
|---|---|---|
| Software licence | Free | UGX 700,000/month |
| Server hardware & hosting | $5,000 – $15,000 | Included |
| Implementation & customisation | $15,000 – $80,000 | Included |
| Developer salaries (ongoing) | $12,000 – $36,000/year | Included |
| Training | $3,000 – $8,000 | Included |
| Billing / insurance system | $5,000 – $15,000 (separate) | Included |
| Payroll system | $2,000 – $5,000 (separate) | Included |
| 3-year total | $35,000 – $130,000+ | ~$9,450 |
Medic8 Pro at UGX 700,000/month for 36 months = UGX 25,200,000 (approx. $6,800). Add the patient app and AI analytics add-ons and the figure reaches approximately $9,450. And Medic8 includes billing, insurance management, payroll, inventory, financial accounting, a patient mobile app, AI analytics, and FHIR R4 API — features that open-source alternatives either don't offer or require expensive custom development to add.
Three-year total cost of ownership from $9,450 — and more features than any open-source alternative.
See full pricing