New Jersey to make open source EMRs illegal

Editor’s note: it actually does not appear to specifically make open source illegal but the side effect may be that. Unless they are CCHIT certified.

http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A4000/3934_I1.HTM

2. (New section) a. No person or entity, either directly or indirectly, shall sell, offer for sale, give, furnish, or otherwise distribute to any person or entity in this State a health information technology product that has not been certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology.

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VistA electronic health record system : Filling the Skills-Gap

The Veterans Health Administration’s open-source electronic health record system VistA is a fully integrated, enterprise-wide healthcare information system that has been developed and used for the past 20 years by the Veterans Health Administration, the largest, centrally directed, healthcare system in the U.S. VistA has been deployed in about 1,500 care sites. More private-sector oriented, open-source versions such as WorldVistA and OpenVista, whose source code is freely availabe could be an effective and low-cost option for non-Veterans Affairs hospitals that are seeking to implement a complete hospital information system, but have been held back by the cost.

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Medsphere Raising $15 Million

According to this article Medsphere Corp. is raising $15 million in venture capital: ‘In a regulatory filing this week, Carlsbad, CA-based Medsphere Systems says it has raised about $1.9 million of a $15 million secondary venture round. Medsphere CEO Michael Doyle told me recently that existing investors have committed $6 million for the round so far. Since it was founded in 2002, Medsphere has raised $50 million from investors that include Azure Capital Partners, Epic Ventures, and Thomas Weisel Partners. The company is commercializing an open source software version of VistA, the electronic health record system developed for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.’