California Hospital Implementing OpenVista

OpenVista continues to gain ground within the EMR and health IT systems market. A California hospital, Kern Medical Center, in Bakersfield, California is set to deploy OpenVista by the year's end. Check out the article.

$12 Million for MedSphere's OpenVista

It looks like an open source software provider has truly broken through and is gaining support from across the nation. MedSphere has just received $12 million to aid in its development efforts of OpenVista, the open source electronic health record system. MedSphere has been the leader now with open source health systems, and its community continues to gain strength and momentum as more join and more implementations occur. With the news of financial aid, it is clear that healthcare providers now have confidence in the software and the support needed to run it.

Check out the article on Healthcare IT News.

EHR Adoptions Still a Major Concern for Physician Practices

It is frustrating to see that EHR still remains a major concern for physicians practices in 2009. It is clear that form the backbone of our healthcare system, yet we can't as a country/government/etc. seem to focus on how to truly help these practices adopt EHR's. The large hospital systems are continually adopting more and more health technology, creating an even greater separation between the physicians offices and the hospitals. The physician offices are our primary care locations, so it would seem logical to focus our efforts on digitizing the records for these practices. However, the country's focus does not seem to align with this thinking, or rather the funding is not well enough focused to help support these practices adopt the EHR's. With large hospital systems adopting proprietary EHR's, the pressure for physician practices to do the same is great. However, it would seem an even better fit to simply advocate open source systems initially for all physician practices, so they won't be overwhelmed with the adoption because of the financial tab. Then they can all at least be up and running with digitized records, so they can benefit from the information exchange with large hospitals.

Utah Hospital Adopting OpenVista

OpenVista continues to garner strength with the announcement today by Blue Mountain Hospital, an 11-bed hospital in Blanding, Utah. This Utah hospital has signed the plans to implement an EMR system. The system will be OpenVista, utilizing MedSphere as the implementation team. Smaller hospitals, clinics, and health organizations across the country are continuing to see the value in the open source health systems with them being cost effective and increasingly more reliable. Check out the article.

Dispelling the Software Myth

Ben Mehling of MedSphere.org responds to an article recently published by the Long Island Press. Besides the article representing a sound chronological history of OpenVista, Ben touches on the interesting point of the existence of a software pricing myth. The myth is that many believe that the more expensive the software, the better it will be. Those that buy cheaper software options are cutting corners and jeopardizing quality. This mentality, though, extends far beyond software products to consumer products in general. Prices are correlated with a level of quality. The better or higher level of quality, the more expensive the good will be.

However, with the advent of the open source movement, this consumer product pricing scheme is no longer valid. Some of the best software systems (e.g. Linux, OpenVista) are free. This is hard for many still to swallow. Older generations simply were not raised with this mindset, so many of the leaders today are pushing back from open source simply because of this contradictory pricing mentality.

It will only take a few successful open source implementations, though, to dispel this pricing myth. With Linux systems being used in university science labs to OpenVista being implemented with the VA, we have the successful implementation examples today. Therefore, it is exciting to be able to be a part of a distinct shift in the years to come of how we view the pricing of healthcare systems and consumer products in general.

The Big Three: Coverage, Cost & Quality

The major problems within the US healthcare system are summarized in three key terms: coverage, cost, and quality. Policy makers and health reformers struggle with how to solve the problems of providing coverage to all Americans at an affordable rate and with a consistent level of quality of care. Debate continues back and forth of what is the best or correct solution...universal healthcare or some other alternative?

It appears, though, that some of the debates are superfluous when open source health systems are a viable solution. Why argue continually with no progress about costs when health IT systems can be utilized at no upfront costs? Policy makers do take the time to weigh all scenarios, options, and sides before making decisions, which is needed. However, perhaps the simplistic approach is best with regards to lowering healthcare costs. The focus should be to act now in installing open source health systems to get everyone connected and sharing information. With this step, expedited progress can be made at greater rates of success because everyone is exposing their flawed, proprietary practices and ultimately working together, which is part of the overall problem.

What to do with $5 million?

Having to answer an essay question for a healthcare related opportunity, I initially was overwhelmed at the thought of answering the question. The question, "If you were given 5 million dollars and could use it for only one purpose, what would you do with the money?" incorporates so many different possibilities in my mind. I could give the money to a friend who is working on a water purification project in Ghana, Community Water Solutions.

However, as much as I want to donate this hypothetical money to CWS, the project does not reflect my own passions, knowledge, or life intentions. It doesn't show the entrepreneurial, healthcare related thoughts that the admissions committee is looking for. Therefore, I continued to grapple with the concept of having to narrow an essay response to one meaningful project. Would I choose to donate to an AIDs clinic in Africa, give the money to impoverished children in India who cannot afford vaccinations and medications, or would I donate the money to Latino communities in the US who cannot access the healthcare system because they are working with green cards?

As I logged into my blog, the answer was quickly realized and seemed so easy. I would donate the money to have open source healthcare systems implemented at small clinics, family practices doctor's offices, and healthcare organizations in general that cannot afford to adopt an EMR system. These small clinics are truly the key to the successful automation of the entire US healthcare system. The large hospitals, insurers, and clinics can afford to implement healthcare systems and utilize a proprietary vendor who installs the software and provides the training. They can also brunt the cost of creating interoperable health information networks, so all of the large providers can "talk" to each other and share data.

However, the smaller healthcare providers can barely staff their clinics well enough each day. Healthcare IT systems are their last worry on a daily basis. They cannot afford to implement such a system nor can they dedicate staff members to training others on the new system. Without the systems, they are also left out of the sharing of invaluable health data on information exchange networks that provide better healthcare diagnoses and overall care to patients.

Therefore, the answer is clear now with what I would do with $5 million dollars. Utilize a team such as MedSphere to implement OpenVista in small, needy clinics across the country. The focus initially would be with clinics who cater to our system's children and elderly because these individuals are our future and most needy. Then, with a MedSphere team, the software implementation would cost ZERO dollars. The $5 million dollars would be used to pay MedSphere members to go in to implement the systems and train employees. Without the licensing fees, the $5 million dollars could go quite far in automating and digitizing our foundational healthcare organizations.

How far could the $5 million extend in covering the implementation/training costs? That is one answer that I am still unsure of. However, it is clear that this $5 million could go much further with an open source health system than with a proprietary health system. Our healthcare system should not based upon having the "best" system but rather on providing an interoperable health platform that all health organizations (big or small) can access. For that to happen, ALL health providers must have the foundational system implemented to connect to the platform. That is why open source makes this seemingly overwhelming task of implementing health systems in such a large, disaggregated US healthcare system much more feasible and affordable.