An in-depth article on F/OSS EHR’s including comparisons and contrasts of the front-runners has been published by California Healthcare Foundation: Open-source electronic health record (EHR) systems, have proliferated in recent years. This executive summary presents the findings from an evaluation designed to determine whether these systems, commonly referred to as free and open-source software (FOSS), are suitable as ambulatory EHRs.

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CCHIT’s Open Source interoperability testing framework ‘Laika’ project has a site on sourceforge with some interesting upcoming events such as: ’14 Jan Laika v0.1 demo to CCHIT leaders’. This project is noteworthy because it is open source and that it is from CCHIT and was previously mentioned on LMN here. From the website: ‘Laika is named after the dog and first living animal to enter earth orbit, paving the way for human space flight. This effort will likewise demonstrate that the grand challenge of interoperable EHRs is attainable and will inspire others to follow.’ Thanks to Fred Trotter for the link.

The HSSP effort is pulling together an industry conference entitled “SOA for Health Care”. Note that the event is focused on case-studies around SOA in health care, and is not about the standards themselves. We have a preliminary conference site up here.

We are currently soliciting the community for abstracts in the hope of extending the program to include additional valuable contributors whom may not be actively involved with our work already. Abstracts will be accepted through 31 December. Those interested in contributing may do so by submitting abstracts here.

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The next release of PatientOS is being refocused to focus on specific ambulatory clinic or Physician practice workflows that can be completed end-to-end. To that goal I have an initial use case to share: http://www.patientos.org/wikimedia/index.php/Nursing_documentation_and_progress_note

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Healthcare IT News, By Molly Merrill, Contributing Writer, 11/09/07

CHICAGO – The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology has entered into the next phase of building software capable of testing the Interoperability capabilities of electronic health record systems, officials reported today.

CCHIT is collaborating with the MITRE Corp. on an open source, software-testing framework called, LAIKA, which will make it possible for vendors to test and verify whether their products meet CCHIT certification.

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Under the direction of management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE: BE), The National Alliance for Health Information Technology (Alliance) is working with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to engage health care stakeholders in a participatory process to define key health IT terms.

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Philadelphia � November 6, 2007 � Today Hx Technologies, Inc. (HxTI) announced the public availability and free open source licensing of the Xebra� platform for web-based distribution and clinical review of medical imaging.

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Fred Trotter has an article in which he discusses Electronic Health Records, the Iroquois Nation’s notion of considering the impact of the current generation decision 7 generations from now and Microsoft’s HealthVault as well as Google’s announced Personal Health Records: “…My mother died of ovarian cancer. My grandmother took a drug while my mother was in utero that increase the chances that my mother would get ovarian cancer. Any consideration given to my mothers genetic propensity to get cancer must take into account this environmental influence…My grandmothers medical record will remain relevant for at least five generations…How long should we be keeping our electronic medical records? We should ensure that they are available for the next seven generations…A private, for-profit, corporation is an inappropriate storehouse for records that the next seven generations will need. Corporations do not last long enough. Consider the Dow Jones Industrial Average, of the original 12 companies that made up the index, only one is still listed…” I propose that this henceforth be known as The Trotter Test and that it be an indicator of the length of time Electronic Health Records should be designed to last. So far the LGPL Indivo Health is the only one I would consider to be in the running.

Here’s a great little article
on how to work with the Free Software Community: “…With that intent in mind, let’s explore seven principles that will make your life easier when engaging free software types. In summary:

1. Know your audience

2. Your argument must rely on facts and reason

3. Respect community members’ time, rules and terms

4. Develop a thick skin

5. Contribute

6. Be humble

7. Make it interesting, make it fun…We’re not amateurs, so get rid of those misconceptions. Each and every one of us is highly likely to be much more proficient and professional in our field of expertise than you…” Each point is explained further in the article.

Dossia a consortium of companies for “Lifelong Personally-Controlled Health Record” has announced that they will be using the LGPL (a FOSS license) licensed Indivo personally controlled health record software for Boston’s Childrens Hospital Information Program (CHIP) “Since the inception of the Indivo system in 1998, we have firmly held that the best way to get vital and private medical information to the point of care is under the strictest control of the individual,” said Kenneth Mandl, MD, MPH, CHIP researcher at HST and physician in Emergency Medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston. “Dossia and Children’s share a common vision of promoting widespread adoption of personally controlled health records and are excited to be working together to make this vision a reality.”