Monthly Archives: August 2007

PatientOS Free Healthcare Information System v0.11 released

PatientOS is a free open source Healthcare Information System designed for hospitals and physician offices worldwide. Version 1.0 is slated for October 31, 2008. PatientOS v0.11 demonstrates database independence by porting from PostgreSQL to an embedded database. The orders interface has been refined to increase navigation speed and usability. Screenshots, video footage and further information can be found here.

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CCHIT-Certified WorldVistA EHR Delayed by End User Agreement

Joseph Conn has This article on why the release of CCHIT-certified WorldVistA EHR has been delayed: “The delay can be attributed in large measure to unique legal and business considerations that arose by virtue of certification as an open-source software product, according to Joseph Dal Molin, interim president and vice president of business development for WorldVistA. “The main thing that has been the stumbling block for us is translating the (24-page) CCHIT agreement into an end-user agreement,” Dal Molin said in a telephone interview. “We need to maintain certification in an open-source world. As bizarre as it may seem, we didn’t anticipate that as part of the (development) effort.”

Historic Opportunity for Electronic Medical Record Unification in Texas

This article is out on the Houston Psychiatric Society website: “Three major healthcare groups: Harris (Houston) and Tarrant (Dallas) County Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority (MHMRA) and Gateway to Care are either near Request for Proposal (RFP) or already have proposals for Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. A decision will be made in the next two months. Linking the MHRMRA’s and Gateway to Care via the same EMR system would be a historic, rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For the success of these initiatives and the future of our patients, it is of critical importance that the systems chosen 1) be non-proprietary, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) licensed products and 2) use the same software base. Advocacy for such a system by Houston Psychiatric Society and its members is crucial.”

Personal Health Records

The personal health record (PHR) is different from an EHR. The PHR is an electronic, lifelong record of health information that is maintained by individual citizens. These individuals own and manage the information in the PHR, which comes from both their healthcare providers and the individuals themselves. This article recently published in Virtual Medical Worlds describes the current state of affairs with regards to the development and implementation of PHR systems in some detail. Here are just a few of the many collaborative projects, activities, and organizations involving the development and implementation of personal health record (PHR) systems that are described in the article. Many of these are open source solutions, e.g. AHIMA and myPHR; MyHealtheVet ; Eastern Maine Healthcare; and MyOnlineHealth; and iHealth Record.

Dana Blankenhorn blogging on FOSS healthcare

Dana Blankenhorn has started a new ZDNet healthcare blog with a strong emphasis on open source in healthcare software.

So far he has four articles of note. First he commented on the new Misys open source move. He has commented on the PossiblityForge Java OpenEMR, an article on
What open source can teach medical computing. Most recently he has asked the great question: What is stalling open source in healthcare?

Trotter

A Tale of Modern Electronic Medical Record Software

Once upon a time there was a prosperous and entrepreneurial port city named EMR. EMR had many ships and many ship owners who ferried lots of people to the healing spas that existed in nearby mountains. Unfortunately for the ships and passengers, the harbor was quite rocky and treacherous. Shipwrecks were common with large and grievous losses of life. Many of the entrepreneurs in the city thought that EMR could benefit from a modern marvel called a lighthouse.

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Is Your Big Company, CCHIT, Proprietary EMR Safe?

Think your CCHIT certified, proprietary EMR from a ‘big’ corporation is a safe bet? Think again. Remember Enron? From GPLmedicine.org comes news that a recently #1 ranked, CCHIT certified EMR company, AcerMed, is either severely crippled or has bit the dust. Why is this significant?

It is significant because Electronic Medical Record software isn’t like a restaurant chain. People’s lives depend upon it. Many EMR software acquisition decision makers think that a proprietary EMR from a ‘big’ company that is CCHIT certified is ‘safe’ and ‘isn’t going to go away soon’. Many in the Free and Open Source Software licensed EMR crowd know that this is an utterly false sense of security and that the only safe bet is a non-proprietary FOSS licensed EMR. Further that it is un-ethical to do it any other way.

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Stark Exceptions Establishing Cartels?

Stark law exceptions were intended to remove barriers to Health IT adoption, allowing hospitals to pay for hardware and software for Physicians. In part: “The items and services must consist of hardware, software, or information technology and training services that are necessary and used solely to receive and transmit e-prescription information.” How is this going to shake out in reality?

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CK-ERP (Open Source ERP / CRM / MRP) v.0.23.1 released (with MirrorMed, ClearHealth, OpenEMR connector)

This release features connectors for MirrorMed, ClearHealth, OpenEMR, and osCMax. XOOPS connector has been enhanced to provide group-module ACL control. Locale-aware monetary figure printing has been added. Sample cheque format has been improved.

Hi, folks,

I have posted a new release, v.0.23.1, of CK-ERP, at SourceForge.Net, http://sourceforge.net/projects/ck-erp .

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