More information on the March 11-14 VistA community meeting is available here on the WorldVistA web site. The Houston rodeo is in town during that time so it is wise to book a hotel room early. Here is a list.

*Updated 1/26/04: That’s version 0.1 not 1.0, folks.* Recipient of the 2002 Linux Medical News Award, K.S. Bhaskar has announced that VistA VivA 0.1 is now available. It is a bootable CD which runs VistA. *’…A klunky first release of OpenVistA VivA, the OpenVistA Linux live CD is
available for download from the WorldVistA project at Source Forge
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/worldvista). This live CD is based on
remastering Morphix (http://morphix.org) and is a combination of Morphix
and OpenVistA SemiVivA…* Read on for the full text of the announcement.

“Release early, release often,” is a mantra of the open source movement,
I believe attributed to Eric S. Raymond.

A klunky first release of OpenVistA VivA, the OpenVistA Linux live CD is
available for download from the WorldVistA project at Source Forge
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/worldvista). This live CD is based on
remastering Morphix (http://morphix.org) and is a combination of Morphix
and OpenVistA SemiVivA.

To use it, download and burn the ISO CD image from Source Forge, and
boot an x86 PC (probably at least 128MB RAM and a Pentium processor — I
don’t know what the minimum requirements really are, but I have tried it
on a 256MB 700MHz Athlon PC and a 1GB 1.8GHz Pentium IV PC) from it.
This will put you in a Linux desktop. Caveat: a PC running off a CD-ROM
based compressed file system will run more slowly than a PC running off
uncompressed files on a hard disk.

To run VistA, the operating system (if any!) on the hard drive will not
be touched. However, since I haven’t yet figured out how to operate a
database on a CD-ROM (and don’t expect to any time soon!), the database
will need to be installed on the hard drive. Open a terminal window by
clicking on the terminal icon at the bottom of the screen.

Morphix does not mount hard drive partitions by default, so you will
need to mount the partition on which you wish the database to reside,
e.g. “sudo mount -o rw /mnt/hda1” (if you are not sure what partitions
you have, type “cat /etc/fstab” and look for names that look like
/mnt/xdy or /mnt/xdy# where x is one of the letters h or s, and # is a
number).

To install the database and run it, to run a previously installed
database, or to erase a previously installed database, run “sudo
/usr/local/OpenVistA/vista” (UNIX/Linux users note: there is no
ampersand at the end of that command!). You will be prompted for
required input (and taken to a GT.M shell prompt for the initial
install, from where you will be able to type D ^XUP, D P^DI, etc.). On
an install, the dialog box telling you the database is being copied may
go away before the copy is complete. You should wait for the GT.M
prompt.

When completed, logout of Morphix. You will be taken to a shell prompt
from where you can type “halt” or “reboot”. Since the CD-ROM drive
won’t open at that point (since the CD is still mounted), I find that I
need to type reboot, and then eject the CD as the PC reboots, and then
power it down. Awkward, but it works. If you type halt, you will be
able to open the CD-ROM drive only on the next boot, as the BIOS does
comes to life.

This first release is klunky and primarily aimed at friendly users. If
you are uncomfortable with a GTM> command mode prompt from where you
have a roll and scroll VistA interface, this is not for you. Remember
that from “GTM>” you can type “Halt” to exit to a Linux shell.

I have created a forum (http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=60087)
for discussion of any issues at the WorldVistA project at Source Forge.
You can also submit Bugs
(http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=60087&atid=493021) and Patches
(http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=60087&atid=493023) and ask for
Support (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=60087&atid=493022) at
the WorldVistA project at Source Forge.

Networking is supported by Morphix. So you should be able to configure
your network interfaces and run a CPRS GUI on a Windows machine against
OpenVistA VivA.

FAQ

If your PC can’t boot from a CD-ROM, you can make a bootable floppy
(http://morphix.sourceforge.net/modules/mydownloads/visit.php?lid=27 is
a 1.4M floppy; I believe there is a 2.8M floppy image on the CD). Use
the Linux dd command or the DOS/Windows RAWRITE.EXE (available on the CD
if you just mount it) to write the floppy images.

KNOWN LIMITATIONS

Only hard drives with FAT16/32 (Windows 95/98/ME and some Windows NT
PCs) and common Linux partitions are supported. Hard drives with NTFS
partitions (some Windows NT, and most Windows XP and Windows 2000) are
known to be not supported. I don’t know about partitions with Linux
file systems such as jfs and xfs, since I don’t have access to PCs with
them.

The GT.M database is not configured here with journaling turned on. So,
if you power down the PC without shutting down GT.M cleanly (Halt from
the command prompt — unlike other M implementations GT.M doesn’t use a
daemon), you will get database errors (likely to be benign, but you
should repair them). Refer to the Administration and Operations manual,
available at Source Forge
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/sanchez-gtm). You will need to enable
and turn on journaling if you want more operational robustness.

OpenVistA VivA is set up as a demo. It comes with no warranty express
or implied. Use it at your own risk.

OpenVistA VivA was done by me as a personal project and Sanchez was not
involved in any way.

Never trust technical work done by a manager.

OpenVistA VivA is untested by anyone except me, and my testing too has
been cursory.

D ^XUP from the GT.M prompt results in a VistA application complaint
about a terminal device not being configured in the database. I have no
idea what to do about it.

The time reported by Morphix seems to be one hour behind the actual
time. I have no idea why.

— Bhaskar

The BBC has an article about VistA and WorldVistA with quotes from FOSS in medicine advocate Joseph Dalmolin: ‘…The appeal of having a unified computer system that can provide quick and easy access to patient records is obvious.

“It doesn’t cost you $10m for something as complex as this. It wouldn’t cost a lot of money to do an entire country,” he said…’

The good news is that PocketMD allows you to access the Veterans Administration VistA data on a PDA. The bad news is that it requires numerous proprietary Microsoft products to access the public domain VistA system such as PocketPC, IIS web server and SQL server.

The next VistA Community Meeting will be held in Norcross, Georgia on Thursday, October 16 through Sunday October 19, 2003. The main meeting will be at The Royal (http://www.royalnorcross.com), with additional meeting space at the New City Hall (http://www.norcross-ga-gvt.com/Information/information_maps.asp). Complete details can be found here.

The latest Sanchez Computer Associates Free and Open Source MUMPS compiler, GT.M, is now available. The compiler can be used as the basis for a totally FOSS VistA electronic health record. Highlights of the compiler release include: ‘…the top level program (that which is called from the shell), no longer needs to be an M program — the outer level can also be a C main() function. Effective V4.4-002, M and C code can be intermixed in an application. The implications are significant — for example, it is now possible to use GT.M for dynamic web content scripting by directly calling M functions from a web or application server, instead of using a CGI interface…’ Text of the full announcement is within.

GT.M V4.4-002 and V4.4-FT01 are now available at Source Forge (x86
GNU/Linux only, at http://sourceforge.net/projects/sanchez-gtm) as well
as the Sanchez FTP site, if you have purchased support from Sanchez.

With V4.4-002 on UNIX/Linux, the M run-time system is now packaged as a
shared library (libgtmshr.so) and the mumps executable is merely a
wrapper that calls functions in the shared library (e.g., it is now just
15,833 bytes in size on Linux). The major new functionality that
results from this is that the top level program (that which is called
from the shell), no longer needs to be an M program — the outer level
can also be a C main() function. Effective V4.4-002, M and C code can
be intermixed in an application. The implications are significant —
for example, it is now possible to use GT.M for dynamic web content
scripting by directly calling M functions from a web or application
server, instead of using a CGI interface. There is a new technical
bulletin (TB5-027) on the call-in functionality.

V4.4-002 also brings a significant rewrite of the journaling and
recovery logic, enhancing both performance and robustness. In
particular, interrupted rollbacks and backward recoveries (e.g.,
recovery from a system that crashes while a recovery from a system crash
is in process) are now much better handled by simply repeating the
rollback or backward recovery command (previously, such a condition
could have required restoring a backup and using forward recovery). The
journaling chapter of the GT.M Administration and Operations Guide has
been rewritten, and is made available as a technical bulletin (TB5-029)
describing the new functionality.

In both the above, backward compatibility has been maintained, while
adding significant new functionality. The online help has been updated
to reflect the current user documentation. On x86 GNU/Linux, Red Hat 9
is also now supported.

Of course, there are a number of bug fixes. Details are in the
technical bulletin (TB5-028A). The error messages have been updated
(TB5-030).

GT.M V4.4-FT01 is a field test release based on V4.4-002 with two
additional changes on the Linux platform.

The first is that the maximum string size has been increased from 32KB
to 1MB.

The second is a bug fix: if the second argument of a Set $Piece is a
$Select, GT.M will give incorrect results. Certain versions of the
VistA source code work around this problem, but others don’t. If you
encounter otherwise unexplained errors with VistA (e.g., undefined
variables), see whether V4.4-FT01 makes the errors go away.

On platforms other than Linux — in particular, AIX, Tru64 UNIX and
OpenVMS, there are other significant enhancements that are a precursor
of forthcoming functionality on those platforms. Please contact Sanchez
if you are interested in these platforms.

Thank you for your continued interest in GT.M.

Regards
— Bhaskar

N.B. If all technical bulletins have not hit your download site as of
the time you receive this e-mail, please check back in 24 hours.

K.S. Bhaskar
VP, Database Products
Sanchez Computer Associates, Inc.
40 Valley Stream Parkway
Malvern, PA 19355, USA
+1 (610) 578-4265
k.bhaskar@sanchez.com
http://www.sanchez.com
http://www.sanchez-gtm.com

An article at amednews.com describes the “MyHealtheVet” program, which will allow Veterans Administration patients to view selected parts of their own electronic health records. My question is simple: is this based on VistA or is it based on another project?

The Pacific Telehealth & Technology Hui (Hui) is pleased to announce the release of OpenVista (TM). Based on the Department of Veterans Affairs robust CPRS-VistA� system made available to the public through FOIA, OpenVista is a fully integrated, enterprise-wide healthcare information system. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest, centrally directed, healthcare system in the U.S., has developed and used the CPRS-VistA system for more than 20 years. The Linux-based OpenVista application includes multiple components of the “core” CPRS-VistA system, including patient registration and tracking, scheduling, pharmacy,
laboratory and electronic medical record modules. Read on for further information.

Further information is available on SourceForge and the Hui website:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/openvista

https://sourceforge.net/projects/worldvista

http://www.pacifichui.org/OpenVista/

The OpenVista software and documentation can be downloaded from the Hui
website. Additional documentation and software will be uploaded to the Hui
website next week. Please register on the Hui website so that we can begin
to track statistics on the number of people using or evaluating OpenVista.

In the near future, there are plans to put the OpenVista software and
documentation into a version control system on SourceForge.

Paul Arinaga

Project Manager

Pacific Telehealth & Technology Hui

1 Jarrett White Road

Tripler AMC, Honolulu, Hawaii 96859-5000

tel: (808)433-6369

e-mail: Paul.Arinaga@med.va.gov

The VistA Community Meeting was held over the weekend. Sadly I was not able to attend. I dont know very much about the project, other than that it is really important. And it is getting closer and closer to the point where someone like myself could install and use it. Could somebody reply with a “journalist” dumbed down summary of what happend over the weekend?

Fred Trotter , The FreeMED Project

Joseph Dal Molin writes: The next meeting of The VistA Community will be June 5 – June 8, 2003
at the Veterans Administration Medical Center at Mather Air Force Base (in the Sacramento, California area.) Open to all who are interested in VistA.
For more details and free registration, go to the WorldVistA website — www.worldvista.org — click on the “Meetings” link.