I thought the medical community should be alerted to a critical security issue regarding the use of WiFi wireless systems secured using WPA and WPA2 encryption schemes. The folks over at Elcomsoft (known for breaking the encryption on Adobe PDF files) have developed a technique to break WiFi WPA/WPA2 encryption. You can buy their “password recovery” software now and enough details are present in the wild that I would expect a very short period of time before this attack is common place. People using our web-based ClearHealth & WebVista systems typically use HTTPS and so would not need to worry about insecure wireless links. However our experience is that many users have the same password for multiple services and so something like email could leak a password shared in common with a healthcare system. Non web-based systems that don’t have their own secure encryption should not be used with WiFi. I think many VistA implementations fall in to this category though you are likely OK if using a VPN as well as WPA/WPA2. I would be very concerned about devices like the iPhone, Tablets, Blackberries and other mobility as a lot of those default to HTTP for web based systems. Just thought that everyone should be aware that WiFi links cannot be trusted in and of themselves.
Multi-Head, Multi-User Killer GNU/Linux App Languishes
The year of the GNU/Linux desktop has been always right around the corner for many years now. Many have been looking for the ‘killer application’ that can only be had on GNU/Linux and that will spur widespread adoption of Linux on the desktop. While fast-booting Splashtop desktops look promising, one killer application boldly going where Windows cannot go is languishing. That killer application is…
Open Source Software Workshop OSEHC 2009
Open source software is thought to be one of the driving forces in overcoming the fragmentation in the health IT market. However, barriers like lack of long-term professional support [editor’s note: this may be universal for all health IT] or uncertainty of cost saving capability hinders open source software to gain a reasonable market share. The workshop “Open Source in European Health Care” is conceptualized as a forum where existing open source projects or initiatives are invited to present their work or their experiences in the field of open source in health care. Submissions from all over the world including position papers are highly welcome.
The GAO report on VistA modernization and required organizational issues for success
The latest GAO report on VistA modernisation efforts ca be found here.
There has been much discussion in the Open Source health world about the VA reorganization. While many feel the centralization of development will stifle the innovation that created VistA, the current report cites the need to fix organizational leadership and project management gaps as key issues throttling VistA upgrades and modernization. This report can be an interesting focal point for discussion on the proposed upgrades as well as the implications for OpenVistA.
Why we want open systems
The first hospital in England to install a smartcard-based Cerner system under the British Health Service IT modernisation scheme faces indefinite, multiple problems, according to an internal NHS document. This article at computer weekly reports of the problems with the proprietary system in development in the UK.
Open Source Enterprise Management Software Roundup
Somewhat off our usual topics, here is a brief roundup of excellent enterprise management software:
- Pentaho business intelligence software.
- Zenoss IT management suite.
- XRMS Customer relationship management.
- Sugar CRM Customer relationship management.
- Plone Enterprise content management system.
- Moodle Courseware, run a one room school house or a major University.
EH: Implementation of the Veterans Health Administration VistA Clinical Information System around the World
Electronic healthcare has an article (paid subscription required) entitled: ‘Implementation of the Veterans Health Administration VistA Clinical Information System around the World’. The success story of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) within the US Department of Veterans Affairs has been well documented and is generally well known. What is generally not known is that the VHA’s clinical information system, known as VistA, and the computerized patient record system clinical user interface front end have been successfully transported and implemented to a number of non-VHA healthcare organizations across the United States. Moreover, VistA software modules have been installed, or are being considered for installation, in healthcare institutions around the world in countries such as Mexico, Finland, Jordan, Germany, Nigeria, Egypt, Malaysia, India, Brazil, Pakistan and Samoa.
Editorial: HIMSS Prefers Unacceptable Status Quo
Representative ‘Pete’ Stark recently put forth H.R. 6898 in which federal government coordination of open source and Veterans Affairs VistA software through the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) can occur. Despite the recent formation of an Open Source working group within HIMSS, the proprietary vendor dominated Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is now officially opposed to the open source and VistA aspects of the bill saying that the Federal Government has no role in this. HIMSS is now officially in favor of more patient deaths by medical errors, further slow adoption of electronic medical records, protection for ‘black box’ medicine, continued high expense of health information technology and continued poor care in the United States. Continue reading
HIMSS Response to H.R. 6898: Feds Out of HIT
Health Information and Management Systems Society HIMSS has presented their response to H.R. 6898 which favors open source software and Veterans Affairs VistA: ‘…The private sector makes significant investments in research and development for healthcare IT products. Healthcare IT is available via a competitive market in which vendors compete on the basis of price, quality, and functionality of a product. The development, routine updating, and provision of an open source “healthcare information system” is not the role of the federal government and such product development should remain in the private sector…’
Version 2.5 of OpenClinica Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Software Now Available
Akaza Research announces the availability of version 2.5 of OpenClinica, the popular open source clinical trials software. Full press release after the break.
(Cambridge, MA) September 29, 2008: Akaza Research announces the availability of OpenClinica 2.5, the popular open source clinical trials software. This release marks a major milestone for users of OpenClinica by adding a host of features, many of which are designed to better support regulated industry sponsored clinical trials.