GNU/Linux And Open Source Medical Software News

Google To Launch New Open Source Web Browser "Chrome" Tomorrow

Google's got it's own browser now : Google Chrome. It's more than just an open source browser, it's more of an application framework.

GNUmed Release 0.3.0

Hi all,

I am happy to announce that GNUmed version 0.3.0 has just been released.

Tarballs are here:

http://www.gnumed.de/downloads/

OpenEMR HQ CEO calls for universal data storge format for EHR/EMR systems

During the company's weekly conference call with its customers, OpenEMR HQ CEO Anthony Papillion stressed the need for records storage and data exchange between commercial EMR/EHR packages such as OpenEMR, VistA, and others:

First look: New WorldVistA GUI Configuration Utility

Kevin Toppenberg and 'Eddie' have a YouTube demo video of a WorldVistA GUI configuration and user management tool. This has been a very needed tool in the VistA world. The good news: it looks full featured. The bad news: it is a 7 Gigabytes full distribution with everything right now. This is a very important development in the VistA world. More information as it arrives. Update 08/21/08: It is written in Borland Delphi (same as native CPRS which is like Pascal) Windows only at this time and will be FOSS licensed.

7th National Medical Banking Institute National Call for White Papers

The editorial staff of the International Journal of Medical Banking is seeking white papers in the following areas: Open source healthcare programs linking banking and healthcare systems; Information privacy, confidentiality and security that focuses on cross-industry issues in banking and healthcare; Treasury and cash management programs targeting healthcare; Card-based platforms and technologies that link healthcare and banking platforms; Independent Health Record Banks; Consumer-driven healthcare technology tools that integrate with banking platforms; Point of service technologies that enable payment at the counter; Community coalition building.

openEHR News

Thomas Beale has posted a letter from Prof David Ingram, CHIME department, University College London regarding the plans and activities of the openEHR Foundation expansion. Specifically in this announcement is the fact that Dr. Tony Shannon is to take over the chair of the Clinical Review Board.

Complete letter is below the fold.

Information Week: Open Source Copyrights Legally Enforceable

Information Week is reporting. "A federal appeals court has struck down a lower court ruling that found that open source copyrights may not be legally enforceable if they're licensed under terms that are "intentionally broad." Ruling on an appeal brought by software developer Robert Jacobsen, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said Wednesday that open source users that do not comply with the software's strict licensing terms can, in fact, be sued for copyright infringement -- even if the software is free..." Thanks to Will Ross for this link.

North Carolina Mental Health Proposals: Open Source VistA Only

North Carolina Mental Health is asking for (large download of RFP pdf) Open Source only Veterans Affairs VistA proposals according to Modern Healthcare (registration required): "North Carolina’s Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services Division has issued a request for proposals to vendors to install a commercially supported, open-source version of the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, or VistA, clinical information system at its three hospitals and three clinics. Marci Keiser, clinical initiatives manager for the department and project manager on the proposed installation said responses to the request are due Sept. 23. Long term, Keiser said the state would like to implement the system in all 12 of its treatment facilities, “but this RFP is very specific in that it says three mental health hospitals total and three clinics total. We’re hoping to start each of the six facilities within three years.” Thanks to Fred Trotter for this link.

Alesha Adamson Accepts Misys Director of Open Source Solutions - Healthcare

From Tim Elwell of Misys: "I just wanted to go 'on the record' and thank this Community (and Fred Trotter in particular) for the pointer to a great OS find. Her name is Alesha Adamson and her first day with Misys was Aug. 4. We are still looking for some open source developers (see my previous posts) so if you know of anyone, please pass a pointer along to me at tim.elwell@misys.com. Here's a blurb on Alesha who has GREAT HIE and healthcare credentials along with real healthcare OS experience in implementation. Please welcome Alesha Adamson to my team as director of Open Source Solutions - Healthcare. Alesha will be assisting me on strategy and roadmap development, creating a network to promote the exchange of health information across various communities, and further developing an open source community to support our HIE initiatives. Alesha joins us from the University of Texas Health Science Center, where she served as the chief of health informatics integration. In this role, she focused on governance structures to facilitate the sharing of clinical and research data, and developed approaches for informatics standards. She also created a successful open source health information exchange for the Healthcare Access San Antonio (HASA). Alesha's healthcare and technical background includes serving as director of technology at HASA, informaticist and HIPAA expert with Oregon Health and Sciences University and a 3-year stint in the Oregon Army National Guard. She has published various policy and technical papers on interoperability and open source and is teaching graduate-level technical courses. She has also worked with state and federal governments to accelerate adoption of health information infrastructures. She was recently named by Texas Governor Rick Perry to the Board of Directors for the Texas Health Services Authority. Alesha earned her master's and bachelor's degrees in Computer Science from Portland State University, a NSA Center of Excellence."

Editorial: AHLTA Continues to Disappoint

Maggie Mahar weighs in on Department of Defense AHLTA system versus VistA: '...As I’ve mentioned in the past, VistA has quite a lot going for it: the VA has improved productivity by 6 percent a year since it was implemented in VA hospitals nation-wide; VistA has helped the VA cut its health care costs by 32 percent since 1996; and the VistA computerized prescription system is incredibly accurate, correctly matching patients and medication 99.997 percent of the time. It makes little sense to ignore this homegrown asset when setting out to build a broader DoD EMR system. Worse still, AHLTA can’t even communicate with VistA, adding a new layer of dysfunction to the military’s IT development. This is all incredibly foolish, but maybe the real kicker is that AHLTA is proving a total failure. Not only is it a waste from an IT development stand-point, but it’s also proven to be a hindrance to the very military clinicians whom it’s supposed to be helping...The DoD has already sunk a whopping $4 billion into the AHLTA project...'