The Governor’s strategic plan for improving healthcare in West Virginia was just completed and published in April 2007. The HealthyWV Strategic Plan describes what the state intends to do to improve healthcare in the state over the next 5-10 years. This article describes several major initiatives being undertaken to install the ‘open source’ VistA and/or RPMS electronic health record (EHR) system in healthcare facilities across the state of West Virginia.

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.”

There is always myths that surround the Veterans Affairs (VA) VistA Electronic Health Record. I have not found a compendium of these myths and the facts so I wrote this list. As well I was partially inspired by Fred Trotter’s recent ‘Antiquated or Proven?’ response to a detractor of VistA. Please feel free to add to this list by replying below.

Myth: The VA is �getting rid of�, �abandoning�, �phasing out� VistA.

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RPMS may be an alternative to VistA that you may want to consider. If one were looking to acquire and implement a comprehensive “open source” electronic health record (EHR) system, serious consideration should be paid to the Resource and Patient Management System (RPMS) used by the Indian Health Service (IHS). RPMS is an adaptation of the VistA health information system originally developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), modified to meet the needs of IHS. RPMS is an integrated health information system ideally suited for implementation in healthcare facilities of varying sizes and complexity. Patients treated at IHS facilities tend to include a diverse mix of all age patients, males and females. While RPMS is deployed at many IHS inpatient facilities, it is more heavily utilized in ambulatory care settings.
Article here.

Click Read More for the full text of the announcement: “Honolulu based Blue Cliff, Inc. has been awarded two contracts to install and implement the VistA Electronic Medical Record System. The State of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) awarded a contract for the installation and implementation of Blue Cliff’s Open Source VistA (OS VistA) hospital information system at their Orofino, Blackfoot and Boise Idaho locations. The second contract was awarded by Lakeview Healthcare Systems, Inc. (LHS) for the implementation of Blue Cliff’s Vista Electronic Medical Record (Vista-EMR) information system at fourteen of its sites in five states, including the site of its joint venture with Virginia NeuroCare Services, Inc., Lakeview Virginia NeuroCare, L.L.C.. Virginia NeuroCare is a Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center Core Program in Charlottesville, Virginia serving military and civilians in multiple residential facilities and an outpatient rehabilitation clinic…”

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Rick Marshall has begun a VistA blog with some good prose:

‘…In the beginning it had no name. Amazingly, those who fought their David-and-Goliath battle to bring VISTA to the world merely described it rather than naming it, almost unthinkable in this era of branding urges so powerful we had to coin the term “vaporware” for our empty software names. Instead, the fathers of VISTA offered us abundant anonymity, a wealth of medical informatics with no name…’

According to this announcement, WorldVistA EHR/VOE 1.0 is now CCHIT certified. Formerly VistA Office EHR (VOE) there has been a name change due to entanglements. It is now known as WorldVistA EHR.

Phillip Longman’s Book ‘Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care is Better Than Yours’ is a narrative of the transformation of the Veterans Affairs hospital system from the worst in the nation to arguably the best in the world, becoming the ‘Toyota of Healthcare’. Longman attributes the VA’s success in large part to the VistA electronic health record system, application of quality metrics system wide made possible by VistA, and alignment of economic incentives. The author contrasts this with the private sector in which poor quality and disorganization are rewarded. He warns of the consequences of retaining the private sector status quo. He ends with a proposal for private sector change.

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David Whitten was the first to note to Linux Medical News that WorldVistA has won the 2007 Wired News Rave Award. This is in the latest print edition of Wired on page 147 featuring a picture of K.S. Bhaskar, Joseph Dal Molin and Maury Pepper. Bhaskar is quoted as saying “nothing short of world domination” regarding VistA. Shameless Linux Medical News plug: Bhaskar and Joseph Dal Molin are past recipients of the coveted Linux Medical News Freedom Award.

Blue Cliff, Inc. is announcing (PDF) VOE Readiness Training May 8-11, 2007 at the Manoa Innovation Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. ‘…Join the Blue Cliff trainers and get a jump start as they offer �hands-on� learning for
implementing VOE. Blue Cliff, Inc. has developed successful methods and support materials to
ensure VOE adopter success. The Blue Cliff team has over 80 years of proven experience,
successful implementations and satisfied clients…’