Informative and wide-ranging Veterans Affairs VistA software newsletter (PDF) for January-February 2008 has been published. ‘We have some major news related to VistA� as well as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to report in this issue. The news from the VA is rather significant and substantive so we have written a special In-Depth report on the subject, separate from the Commentary section…’

WorldVistA has been named a finalist in the Health category of the prestigious Stockholm Challenge.
“The Stockholm Challenge Award categories cover the most significant areas of social and economic life. They are selected to match the UN Millennium Development Goals and cover a wide spectrum of services and activities for people, communities and their environments.”

More information can be found here here
and here with an About the Stockholm Challenge here.

Thanks to Scott Shreeve, MD for this news (see his posting just before this one): One of the largest private sector deployments of the Veterans Affairs VistA software is in a 7 hospital system in Midland, Texas. They are now part of a super-elite group of only 9 hospitals that have received HIMSS Stage 6 Recognition: ‘…Stage 6 hospitals have achieved a significant advancement in their IT capabilities that positions them to successfully address many of the upcoming industry transformations we will be experiencing in the near future (e.g., HIPAA Claims Attachment, pay for performance, and government quality reporting programs).

Midland Memorial Hospital is recognized as one of 9 US Hospitals to achieve Stage 6 adoption of Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model.

In a story that received little recognition from the press, Midland Memorial Hospital was one of nine hospitals to achieve a level six of the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) established by HIMSS Analytics. Midland, of course, is most well known for being the first commercial hospital to implement the much recognized VistA Electronic Health Record. Having convinced Midland to purchase this system, and having assembled an incredible group of talented people to perform what many considered impossible, I think those involved should have a wonderful sense of pride and achievement. Equally important, was the foresight and leadership of David Whiles, Director of Information Systems, and his supportive Chief Executive Officer, Russell Meyers who took a chance on a unproven company with a very proven system.

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February 28 , 2008 – The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan announces the
release of a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for two pilot implementations
of the US Veterans Administration’s VistA in its public health system. A
key goal of the pilots is to determine the feasibility of leveraging
this proven, affordable, open source ICT solution to support continuous
health quality improvement, and to control and reduce costs. The Kingdom
of Jordan enjoys one of the highest standards of care in the region and
aims to build on this success through the establishment of an
effective, sustainable, integrated national healthcare ICT
infrastructure. Vendors interested in participating in this
ground-breaking initiative may obtain a copy of the RFQ, by sending an
email to the following address: HMIS “at” RHC “dot” JO, with the subject
line: RFQ Document Request – VistA Pilot. The body of the email should
state the name of the vendor, contact person, and telephone number. The
deadline for submitting a Letter of Intent to Bid is March 31, 2008. The
deadline for responding to the RFQ is April 12, 2008.

Medsphere and Tolven announced (article here) at the annual HIMSS show that they will form a new partnership to “Surround, Supplement, and Renew” VistA as a viable platform for forward thinking health care organizations. The announcement is loaded with buzz-words, but a close read implies that Medsphere is attempting to reach out to other providers to include them in their currently non-existent ecosystem.

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Modern Healthcare has an an article (registration required) on the Underground Railroad reunion: ‘Members of the Underground Railroad, pioneer developers and defenders of the clinical computing system now in use at more than 800 healthcare sites within the Veterans Affairs Department, will reunite next month, coinciding with a meeting of federal health executives at the Institute of Medicine in Bethesda, Md…The reunion banquet is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Positano Ristorante Italiano in Bethesda, Md.. The banquet is open to activists in the Underground Railroad as well as others who might be interested in its history. To RSVP by Friday, Feb. 1, contact Munnecke at tom@munnecke.com.’

ABC news has a video and transcript : “Socialized medicine may sound un-American, but in fact, it’s exactly what we provide to our American heroes — the more than 5 million armed forces veterans and their families.

They get health care that the government both pays for and delivers. It’s the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, and according to health care experts such as Phil Longman — it’s become one of the best health care systems in the country.

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Space is filling up fast for the not-for-profit Harris County Health Information Cooperative(HCHIC) sponsored, intensive, vendor-neutral Educational Conference: “Introduction to WorldVistA EHR System Administration”. December 7th-9th, 2007 in Houston, Texas. 10% of the proceeds benefit the not-for-profit WorldVistA organization with the rest of the proceeds benefiting the not-for-profit HCHIC. The hotel has guaranteed the room rate at $89/night until November
29th only. More information and enrollment information here.

Scott Shreeve has a in-depth history and analysis of the recent VA announcement of a proprietary lab system in a Free/Open Source stronghold: “…So what happened? How could the VA allow a critical, integral pat of VistA languish for more than a decade? What are the implications of the decision to wholesale components of VistA to proprietary software vendors like Cerner? What does this mean to the other aging parts of the system (Pharmacy, Radiology, etc) as well as some of the new, still functional innovations (BCMA, CPRS, etc)?…”