Roger Baker

See the following -

VistA Evolution: What's Wrong With this Picture?

The VA has begun awarding a number of very high-value contracts under the umbrella of the VistA Evolution initiative (eg to ASM Research/Accenture), but in my opinion, there are problems looming on the horizon.  From what I understand about the direction that these projects are taking (with encouragement, it seems, from within the VA), there’s a real risk that we’ll see a repeat of previous attempts to modernize VistA, the result of which was very expensive failure with essentially nothing to show for it.  The losers, if this happens, are not only US taxpayers: it’s the Veterans whose future welfare depends on VistA4 being a success.

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VistA is Going Places, and Also Staying Put

The Veterans Health Administration's hospital software, VistA, is a computing legend. Few pieces of software have become the subject of a popular book (Best Care Anywhere), won repeated awards for their usability, or been credited with a 180-degree turn-around in an organization's quality. But VistA is getting long in the tooth, and many--including now the VA itself--are questioning whether it's time for something new.The speculations aren't just about VistA. They extend to all health care software of that generation, including the industry's leading electroinc health record (EHR) system--Epic--and the venerable Intermountain Healthcare.

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VistA Marketing Ramps Up in Advance of DoD EHR Award

Molly Bernhart Walker | FierceGovernmentIT | January 14, 2015

A marketing campaign aimed at raising the profile of the Veterans Affairs Department's open source electronic health record is in full swing. A non-profit group founded through a VA contract to advance the department's Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture has stood up a website, Twitter account and LinkedIn group to promote VistA. Read More »

VistA refactoring will be done in the open

Molly Bernhart Walker | FierceGovernmentIT | August 27, 2012

The Veterans Affairs Department requires Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, or VistA, code to be refactored in an open and collaborative way, said VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker during an Aug. 24 press call.

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What's wrong with IT at Veterans Affairs?

Frank Konkel | FCW | May 1, 2013

Projects are stalled, and top leaders have departed. Investigations and agency sources paint a bleak picture inside VA's IT office. Read More »

Will Va Secretary McDonald Go Back To P&G For His CIO?

Bob Brewin | NextGov | August 1, 2014

Robert McDonald, the former Procter & Gamble CEO and secretary of Veterans Affairs since Wednesday afternoon, may enlist Filippo Passerini, the P&G chief information officer, as VA CIO, according to medium-strength signals I’ve picked up. The VA CIO slot has been empty since February 2013, when Roger Baker resigned. Read More »

Wisconsin reps trying to torpedo VA's open source strategy

For those of you folks who think that open health is a staid field, this week saw the unfolding of an epic scandal. NexGov's inimitable reporter, Bob Brewin, author of the column What's Brewin, got his hands on a stash of documents showing that elected representatives from Wisconsin are trying to torpedo the open source strategy being pursued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

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OSEHRA 2012 Open Source Summit

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
October 17, 2012 - 8:00am - October 18, 2012 - 6:00pm
Location: 
Gaylord National Washington, DC
United States

The Open Source Electronic Health Records Agent (OSEHRA) will be hosting its First Annual Open Source EHR Summit & Workshop October 17 and 18, 2012, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. OSEHRA is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating an open source ecosystem around the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) world-class EHR, VistA. Since its creation a year ago by the VA, the organization has grown rapidly and now has more than 1,000 members. Members include a large number of private companies that are engaged in implementing VistA private sector hospitals and clinics, as well as in the large number of foreign countries that are adopting VistA. These solution providers are also developing a whole range of  enhancements to the VistA core.

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31st VistA Community Meeting

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
June 1, 2015 (All day) - June 3, 2015 (All day)
Location: 
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
United States

The VistA community is holding its 31st VistA Community Meeting at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. The meeting is going to be addressed by a wide range of speakers, from current and former top officials of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), to leading innovators for the Vista and RPMS EHRs. The goal of these meetings is to create a collaborative conference where VistA Community can network and collaborate, i.e., to share ideas and work, with the objective of moving VistA & the VistA community forward.

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34th VistA Community Meeting

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
March 20, 2017 (All day) - March 22, 2017 (All day)
Location: 
Regenstrief Institute Indianapolis, IN
United States

The VistA community will be gathering at Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the 34th VistA Community Meeting (VCM). The goal of VistA Community Meetings is for those involved in the VistA Community to network & collaborate, i.e., to share ideas and work, with the objective of moving VistA & the VistA community forward.

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37th VistA Community Meeting

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
June 4, 2019 (All day) - June 6, 2019 (All day)

The goal of VistA Community Meetings is for those involved in the VistA Community to network & collaborate, i.e., to share ideas and work, with the objective of moving VistA & the VistA community forward. Compared to most meetings, VistA Community Meetings are relatively unstructured.  The agenda is always a "living" agenda, because attendees are free to change it – even during the meeting – in order to  better meet their objectives.

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OSEHRA 2019 Summit

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
July 9, 2019 (All day) - July 10, 2019 (All day)
Location: 
MD
United States

The Open Source Electronic Health Record Alliance (OSEHRA) will be holding its 8th Annual Open Source Summit from Tuesday, July 9 through Wednesday, July 10, 2019 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, just north of Washington, D.C. Titled "Open SaaS - Open Source in the Cloud," this year's two-day Summit will showcase leading-edge, open source initiatives and highlight the increasing level of public-private partnership in major programs and agencies. Open source software has become key to both implementation and interoperability as more and more programs opt for cloud-based solutions and software-as-a-service delivery models. This Summit will address ways to optimize open source utilization and community involvement in this new playing field.

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38th VistA Community Meeting [Virtual]

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
August 28, 2020 - 8:00am - August 30, 2020 - 5:00pm

The VistA community will be holding their 38th VistA community meeting virtually on August 28 to August 30th. The goal of VistA Community Meetings is for those involved in the VistA Community to network & collaborate, i.e., to share ideas and work, with the objective of moving VistA & the VistA community forward.

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39th VistA Community Meeting

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
October 22, 2021 (All day) - October 24, 2021 (All day)

The VistA community will be holding their 39th VistA community meeting virtually on October 22 to 24. The goal of VistA Community Meetings is for those involved in the VistA Community to network & collaborate, i.e., to share ideas and work, with the objective of moving VistA & the VistA community forward.

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