Recently ComputerWorld released an otherwise good article entitled: Old code proves key to modern IT at Midland Memorial Hospital. The first paragraph reads in part: For Midland Memorial Hospital, this came in the form of 1970s-era code unearthed via the Freedom of Information Act. This is really frustrating. VistA is old. But it is not […]
Medsphere wins big Indian Health contract
Medsphere just announced that they have won a contract with Indian Health Services for a 5-year and 9.7 million. With deals like that, maybe they do not even need further financing. -FT […]
Announcing NPIdentify
A while ago I was contacted by the folks at Health IT Transition (Now defunct.) regarding some NPI development. We decided to collaborate. They turned me on to the intricacies of the NPI database, and I have been doing skunkworks on the NPI database ever since. Sadly, they have been waiting on me since then, […]
On Being Threatened
Express Scripts, one of the nations largest pharmacy benefit management companies, is being blackmailed with the release of private health information. The blackmailer proved that he/she has access to the data by providing information on 75 Express Scripts customers. The company has done a fine job of swallowing this bitter pill. They have done exactly […]
Medsphere Growing in the right direction?
An important part of the reason why (some) people respect what I have to say with regards to FOSS Healthcare IT is that I do not pull punches. I also do not hesitate to admit when I am wrong. Recently, Mike Doyle from Medsphere called me. I have a lot of respect for Mike, just […]
Trust but Verify and Trust but Fork
I have enjoyed participating in the National Dialogue about Health IT. One of the challenges put forward to my suggestion that decision makers should insist on FOSS in Health IT, was the following comment: in terms of privacy, there’s nothing inherent in FOSS that makes it superior to all proprietary products. I have discussed this […]
A National Dialogue is a site for proposing and commenting on ideas in Health IT created by the National Academy of Public Administration. (among others) The site is only open for a few days, and I have put forward my basic thesis: Insist on Open Source in Health IT that my readers are used to […]
Medsphere Layoffs
I have been hearing rumors that Medsphere has been laying people off. A few days ago, the rumors bubbled to Histalk, which they always do eventually. This is a big problem. The main advantage that Medsphere has over its number one competitor, ClearHealth Inc, was its capitalization. The idea of a funded open source medical […]
HIMSS a lobby for proprietary Health IT vendors
Today, I recieved a letter in my mailbox regarding HIMSS take on the recent legislation proposed by Stark. HIMSS Stephen Lieber and Charles E. Christian, president and chairman of HIMSS respectively, write: However, HIMSS believes the legislation has negative consequences, including discounting the current efforts of “AHIC 2.0” and the development of an open source […]
Peter Bodtke taking a VistA tour
Peter Bodtke, the current vice president of WorldVistA, is doing a VistA tour. He is planning on touring Central and South America to raise awareness for VistA. Maybe they should make a shirt that says “It was an EHR before it was an Operating System”. They might be able to find a more pithy wording. […]