COSI 'Open' Health

'Open' Revolution

I believe we have moved into a century of massive, global collaboration, innovation, and 'open' solutions. There is a revolution taking place in the high tech industry as we continue to move to open source solutions. In education and publishing we are moving to open copyright, open access, open knowledge, and open journals. We're seeing collaborative and 'open' news organizations, religious, and political movements. 'Open' health IT solutions and communities are proliferating. I think its very real, this period of 'open' revolution' on all fronts. I just haven't got a truly clear handle on what it really looks like, how it operates, and what its impact will be on us, our country, and our way of life.  But something big is afoot -  this is not just the Information Age, we've entered an Age of Open Revolution!

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Regenerative Medicine & Health IT Systems

Introduction

Over the past decade I've written numerous articles about many of the health information technologies (IT) and systems needed to support traditional medicine and preventative medicine practices, e.g. EHR, PHR, and HIE systems. With the emergence of the relatively new field of regenerative medicine, what type of health IT systems are going to be needed?

The growing field of regenerative medicine already encompasses so many fields from stem cell research, genetics, tissue engineering, bioengineering, organic human nanostructures, limb reconstruction, transplantation, and life extension research. This doesn't include the supporting fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, robotics, 3D imaging, and more. Regenerative medicine requires extensive collaboration between scientists working in all these various areas.

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Latest Effort to Derail the Open Source Approach to Modernizing the VA VistA System

On March 22, 2011, an article in the Nextgov news site reported that five members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation asked the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to consider using a single commercial system for their new electronic health records, a move that could benefit one of their state's largest employers, software company Epic Systems Corp. The VA quickly responded and said it plans to stick with the open source approach it has pursued so successfully in partnership with other public and private sector organizations over the past few decades.

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Next Generation "Social Health" Information Systems

"Social networking" websites like Facebook are now being used regularly by hundreds of millions of people around the world to connect with each other. "Social commerce" web sites like Groupon have now emerged connecting consumers with local stores and national supply chains. What's next?  Look for next generation "social health" information web sites. Read More »

Hawaii and Open Health IT Solutions

Over the years, Hawaii has given rise to a number of individuals and organizations that have played a key role in collaboratively developing and implementing innovative ‘open’ health IT initiatives. I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge them. Read More »

Public Health Information & Technology

The following is a list of web sites of just a few of the many collaborative, 'open' public health IT projects, software products, services, or health information sources worth checking out. They are all available in the 'public domain' or as 'open source' solutions. Read More »

Understanding 'Open' Terminology

Having heard so many people using the terms "open systems", "open computing", and "open source" interchangeably, believing they all mean the same thing, it seemed appropriate to  write a short blog defining some of these terms and soliciting input on other 'open' terminology. Read More »

Alternative 'Green' Energy Solutions for Health IT Systems

Your health care organization's vision for the future should include having more and more of your health information technology (HIT) infrastructure powered by alternative "hybrid" energy systems that tap into solar, wind, hydro, and traditional el

Collaborative, 'Open' Education Solutions in Health Care

The use of 'open source' software to deliver global health education solutions used by universities, medical schools, and a range of other health care organizations is becoming an increasingly important trend to watch.

Wearable Health IT Systems

The 1980's were dominated by the use of personal computers (PC). The 1990's saw the widespread acquisition and use of laptop computers. This decade has seen the widespread acceptance and use of mobile personal digital assistants (PDA) or smartphones, e.g. iPod, Blackberry, etc.