VistA Community News

See the following -

Emerging GIS Map of Healthcare Sites Using VistA EHR Systems

Open Health News has been building a database of all healthcare sites that have installed or are using any of the variants of the open source VistA Electronic Health Record (EHR) System, e.g. VA VistA, Medsphere OpenVistA, vxVistA, WorldVistA, RPMS, etc.  Using the growing database, OHNews has created a GIS map of the sites. There are still about 400+ sites yet to be added from India, Jordan, Mexico, the USA, and other countries. The emerging GIS Map of healthcare facilities that have installed or are using the VistA System is quite impressive.  Just a quick look at the USA shows that the family of VistA EHR systems is becoming the de facto national solution for federal, state, and local community hospitals and clinics. Read More »

OSEHRA 2013: Open Source EHR Agent to Hold Second Developers Summit

David Raths | Healthcare Informatics | August 10, 2013

Next month, technical and business executives working to improve users’ success with open source EHRs will meet in Bethesda, Md., at the Second Annual Open Source EHR Summit & Workshop put on by the Open Source Electronic Health Records Agent (OSEHRA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating innovation in electronic health record software. The OSEHRA community has grown to more than 2,300 members...
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"Best of Breed" or "Mangy Mutt?"

Throughout my career, I've sat through innumberable sales presentations showing some piece of software that is the greatest thing since sliced bread, according to the salesman.  All it takes is a "bit of integration" to make it work with everything else. The theory is, if we just collect all these "best of breed" applications and "do a bit of integration" we will end up with information systems nirvana. 

Now, imagine trying to build the world's best car using an engine from a Corvette, seats from a Rolls Royce, and the hybrid electric system from a Prius.  Surely, this must produce the world's fastest, most comfortable, most fuel-efficient car.  All it takes is a bit of integration, or so folks think.

But something is missing in this approach.  And that is an overall perspective - what Frederick Brooks calls the "conceptual integrity" of a design...

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'Open Source' EHR Systems in Idaho

The installation and use of 'open source' electronic health record (EHR) systems have continued to spread across Idaho and many other states across the U.S.  See the map of healthcare facilities running some variant of the open source VistA electronic health record (EHR) system in the state. Read More »

'Open Source' VistA Installations in Louisiana and other Mississippi Basin states

The installation and use of 'open source' electronic health record (EHR) systems has continued to spread across the U.S., including many of the states that border the Mississippi River. For example, see the following map of healthcare facilities running some variant of the open source world renowned VistA electronic health record (EHR) system. For the past year, Open Health News (OHN) has been working hard assembling data on VistA users around the world. The results will be released shortly in a Special Report aptly titled "VistA: The EHR of Record". Read More »

A History of Health Information Technology in the VA: 1955-2005

"A History of Health Information Technology in the VA" covers the major activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in developing and deploying health information technologies (IT) from 1955 though 2010.  Read More »

A Meaningful Hurdle the VA Still Hasn't Crossed

Joseph Conn | ModernHealthcare.com | July 6, 2011

What has a small band of open-source programmers and a handful of health information technology vendors accomplished that the massive U.S. Veterans Affairs Department has not? Read More »

A Truly Open VistA

Gunnar Hellekson | OpenSource.com | April 5, 2011

The VA has released a draft RFP to create a new open source project around their electronic health record system, VistA. This is a landmark event for both the VA and the open source community. The need for cheap and robust EHR systems is clear, and the VA has one of the leading platforms.

See https://www.fbo.gov/notices/1b174bb5c6f6770e1032ef15ab3bcedb

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ACT-IAC Applauds Announcement as an Example of How Collaboration Can Improve Government

Press Release | ACT-IAC | April 5, 2011

The American Council for Technology (ACT) IAC report recommended that VA move to an open source, open standards model for the reengineering of the next generation of VistA. It was the sense of the industry that this approach would create an environment within which VA employees, large prime contractors, healthcare professionals, innovative small companies, healthcare software vendors, and entrepreneurs can all contribute to improving “the best care anywhere” being provided by VA today. 

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Alabama and Other Southern States Embracing 'Open Health' Solutions

The installation and use of 'open source' electronic health record (EHR) systems have continued to spread across Alabama and many other states across the U.S.  See the map of healthcare facilities running some variant of the open source VistA electronic health record (EHR) system in Alabama and neighboring sta Read More »

American Samoa & VistA

Peter Groen | Virtual Medical Worlds | November 15, 2005

The Lyndon Baines Johnston (LBJ) Tropical Medical Center in American Samoa recently completed a highly successful collaborative project involving the acquisition and implementation of VistA, an electronic health record (EHR) system developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). LBJ Tropical Medical Center is located in Pago Pago and is the only medical facility in American Samoa. Read More »

AmericanEHRPartners Surveys of Clinician Satisfaction with Health IT & EHR Solutions

AmericanEHR Partners is a free online resource designed to aid the medical community with the selection, implementation, and effective use of health information technology (HIT) and electronic health record (EHR) solutions. If you are in the market looking for an EHR system, you might really want to check out their web site and their survey results on the clinician satisfaction with EHR systems. Surprising many,  the 'open source' VistA system, originally developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the leader in EHR usability by a clear margin. Read More »

An electronic medical records mess

Dan Morhaim | Washington Post | September 27, 2013

Electronic health records were once touted as a turning point in U.S. health care, expected to revolutionize recordkeeping on patient histories and reduce the potential for medical errors. Read More »

Another OpenVistA Installation Goes Live - Cooper Green Mercy Hospital

Press Release | Medsphere Systems Corporation, Cooper Green Mercy Hospital | May 22, 2012

Jefferson County, AL, community hospital uses affordable, proven open source EHR to improve patient care without further straining county budgets...With OpenVista now up and running, and enhancing the patient care provided by Cooper Green clinicians and staff, the hospital can devote full attention to meeting Stage One Meaningful Use requirements and qualifying for federal stimulus funds provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

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Astronaut VistA Training Site Operational

Ignacio Valdes, MD | Press Release | November 28, 2012

Astronaut, LLC is proud to release its Astronaut VistA Training website and Astronaut VistA cloud. The Astronaut VistA Training site offers 24/7 clinician training and basic administrator training with certification while the Astronaut VistA cloud offers supported, no installation or on-site server necessary VistA service. Astronaut VistA Training is an entirely web-based learning platform for training and review by clinicians and basic system administrators.

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