GNU/Linux And Open Source Medical Software News

Medical FLOSS Repository: An update from Medfloss.org

As you might know Medfloss.org (formerly medfoss.apfelkraut.org) tries to provide a comprehensive and structured overview of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects for the health care domain. After the initial launch 6 months ago it recently welcomed the 200th project in its repository: the GPL-licensed iDART software - iDART is the abbreviation of "Intelligent Dispensing of Antiretroviral Treatment" and according to its authors addresses many of the challenges faced by public ART dispensing pharmacies in developing countries. Starting with originally just 120 projects, the medfloss.org database currently holds:

206 medical FLOSS projects that can be browsed by application type, enterprise function, standard and additional categories.
63 companies and other institutions that are offering professional service for specific FLOSS projects
83 references to scientific publications about the utilization of FLOSS in health care
detailed overview of past and future FLOSS events like the Med-e-Tel 2010 FLOSS-HC track or OSCON Health IT track 2010

... and much more useful information.

Houston The Place to Be Late September, Early October

Wow, Houston Texas looks like it will be a hotbed of Health IT activities end of September early October. Astronaut VistA training, AMIA CMIO, Open Source Health Conference and Texas Health IT Summit. In chronologic order:

Astronaut VistA training September 25th-26th

AMIA CMIO boot camp Sept 29th-October 2nd

Open Source Health Conference September 29th-30th

Texas Health IT Summit September 30th-October 2nd

Astronaut Live! VistA Training September 25-26th, Houston, Texas

New and improved! Two day weekend format and much lower price! The third edition of Introduction to VistA System Administration with Astronaut will be held in Houston, Texas, September 25-26th. Limited seats are available. This training event will start you on the journey to Electronic Health Record excellence and will be held in Houston, Texas, Septeber 25-26th, 2010. Details and registration info here.

VA Issues RFI on Open Source for VistA

The VA has issued an RFI for comment on using the Open Source model for VistA including collaborating with the open source community and how to manage such projects: here. This is the chance to be heard that everyone has been waiting for.

SFLC: Software Defects are Life or Death Issue

Software Freedom Law Center has announced a paper on the dangers of closed-source medical devices. "...The SFLC's paper proposes a new solution to the software liability nightmare confronting the medical device field: requiring manufacturers of IMDs to make source code auditable. Research indicates that software transparency would make the devices less vulnerable to malicious hackers and security breaches and the public less vulnerable to negligence by the corporations that sell them..."

Freemed-YiRC V1.20 Released

Freemed-YiRC is a software project which provides a fully-integrated, web-based, secure, modular, and customizable web-based product capable of providing Child Caring/Residential Care/Foster Care agencies with a fully functional internal case management/information management system.

More information can be found on the Freemed-YiRC website: http://www.freemed-yirc.com

The Mumps Programming Language (book)

Book: The Mumps Programming Language (2010) available from Amazon.com (ISBN: 1438243383, 120 pages). A revised, updated and comprehensive overview of Mumps with numerous programming examples.

OSCON 2010 Health Sessions July 19-23, 2010

IT in healthcare is at a turning point, and open source is driving change and collaboration across the industry. We cover the key projects, APIs, open standards and technological challenges in healthcare as it takes steps towards a radically different future. http://www.oscon.com/oscon2010/public/schedule/topic/Health

GNUmed - from desktop to web application

In the FOSS world there is choice. There are desktop oriented applications and web based applications. There is however no EMR application which offers both - at the same time. This is because the desktop and the web a fundamentally different - only the user stays the same. GNUmed is attempting to offer what has not been offered before. A desktop app like it has for many years and a web based application - all sharing a common code base without any compromises in terms of security.

The 2010 Healthcare Finance News Virtual Conference and Expo: Healthcare Finance in an Era of Political Reform and Economic Recession

Submit a proposal focused on medical banking for the upcoming conference. The call is open until July 16.

The September 2009 Healthcare Finance News Virtual Conference & Expo attracted over 1,000 registrants consisting of CFOs, COOs, CEOs, CIOs, revenue cycle directors, compliance officers, and other healthcare finance professionals.