[Update 2011-10-19 Many of the issues here applied only to the initial launch of OSEHRA and began to be addressed almost immediately. Do not assume everything you read below still applies] As typical, I was alerted to the fact that Tiag, the winner of the Open Source VistA custodial agent competition, has launched a website […]
Category: VistA
Unethical Blue Button Contest
This contest is deeply problematic. The blue button initiative was a good initiative because it allowed greater access. It made that possible by ensuring that access to patient data did not have to wait for the VA/DOD/Whatever to create a download that conformed to the still-forming XML standards that make true interoperability possible. But now […]
Contract to create VistA shepherd goes to newbie
I just learned, (from a modern healthcare article, of course) that the contract has been awarded to Tiag. At first blush, this news was not concerning. I am only peripherally involved in the VistA community, and there are lots of solid VistA-related contracting companies that I do not know of. It was a little surprising […]
Medsphere OpenVistA meaningful use certified
I am happy to mention that Medsphere has received certification for their OpenVistA EHR system. As far as I know, this is the only meaningful use certification for Open Source software, for the in-patient setting. All of the other certifications that I have mentioned so far have been ambulatory. Congratulations to the Medsphere team. This […]
Health of the Source at OSCON
Hi, OSCON has just published my health of the source talk from OSCON 2010! My slides got a little mixed up, so my delivery is a little scattered, but I hit all of the points I wanted to, just in the wrong order… […]
VistA License debate: its about proprietarization
It looks like WorldVistA is, for now, holding fast to the GPL and AGPL for VistA licensing. I have been a vocal advocate for compromising with DSS and Open Health Tools around the LGPL. The LGPL would allow for some innovations to be licensed under the GPL, and others, in the core of VistA to […]
VistA moratorium
Lots of people have been asking for copies of the VistA moratorium, and rather than email it to ten people, I thought I should make my copy available in public. Obviously this is bad news if your job was to develop Class III code for the VA. The VA has recently released a moratorium in […]
NCVHS Testimony on Meaningful Use
(Update 08-13-09 I have already presented this to NCVHS) Introduction I represent a community of health software developers and clinical users that respect software freedom. This community operates in the legacy of the VA VistA underground railroad. There are several important commercial EHR vendors that respect software freedom they are an important part of our […]
Computer Science should be required for Medical School
Hi, Currently, in Texas, one is required to take Physics I and II and Calculus I (or equivalent stats class) to apply for Medical School. That is not all, of course, but they are requirements. So far, I have never meet a Medical Doctor who needed to use calculus. In fact the only ones that […]
DSS frees vxVistA, changes the VistA game
According this press release on LinuxMedNews DSS will be releasing vxVistA under the EPL in association with the Open Health Tools group. This is huge news. DSS has been a proprietary VistA company for years. They have a tremendous amount of respect in the VistA community for technical competence and they have been slowly building […]