Wolfgang Giere
Terry Wiechmann wrote:
I'm not familiar with all the components of VistA, however, as the project
leader of the COSTAR project back in the late 70's (project collaboration
between NIH, DEC and the Laboratory of Computer Science, MGH), I learned a
few things about private practice software systems that have not changed
over the years (they are burned into my memory :-)Just a couple issues to make the point:
1) MGH thought the greatest asset of the system was the Medical Records
component. We told them that was great, but only part of the picture. To be
really viable, the system needed an integrated financial package (A/R, etc.
as a part of V1). Does VistA meet the requirements of a private practice,
does it have a usable financial package and all those components required of
these environments? People like Kevin are in a position to make these
assessments.2) DEC wanted to advertise COSTAR as a "turnkey system". It didn't take a
genius to figure out that this concept required a superb installation
process (not just software) that essentially "dropped in" to make it
financially viable for DEC. Is VistA ready to drop into these environments
or will it be a long, drawn out process?These are not criticisms of VistA, I'm just pointing out a couple lessons
learned (yes, there were more than a couple).As a commercial venture, like so many, DEC eventually backed out because it
became obvious that it was not going to be profitable for them, MGH shrugged
it off and NIH went on to whatever...To make VistA successful in this sector requires lots of planning and work.
If you ignore history, you are bound to repeat its mistakes...Terry L. Wiechmann
www.esitechnology.com
978-779-0257----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Toppenberg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Hardhats Sourceforge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 5:31 PM
Subject: [Hardhats-members] Vista <---> Modern Physician Magazine> Hey all,
>
> I just had an interesting discussion with Joseph Conn
> who is writing an article about VistA for Modern
> Physician Magazine. Someone gave him my name as a
> physician trying to implement the system in a private
> office.
>
> The gist of what I think he was going to write about
> is that the President has discussed the importance of
> getting EMR's into offices, and there has been
> interest in leveraging VistA in this regard... but the
> VA is in a position of conflict because they are not
> mandated to help get the technology out, and in fact
> are not supposed to be in competition to commercial
> EMR's. So the transfer of software and knowledge
> there is going to be slow. Certainly the CMS VistA
> Office initiative may address these issues, but it
> seems unclear if the purpose of this is to benefit the
> small primary care physician, or whether it is more
> for VA benefit. (And I, for one, never count on
> software in development until its complete.)
>
> I tried to outline the WorldVistA vision of getting
> VistA into public use, and the support systems that
> are being gathered. But to answer his questions, the
> VistA system is clear still not ready for mainstream
> use in private offices.
>
> We'll see how it turns out...
>
> Kevin T.
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone.
> http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> This SF.Net email is sponsored by BEA Weblogic Workshop
> FREE Java Enterprise J2EE developer tools!
> Get your free copy of BEA WebLogic Workshop 8.1 today.
> http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=5047&alloc_id=10808&op=click
> _______________________________________________
> Hardhats-members mailing list
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
>
>-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email is sponsored by BEA Weblogic Workshop
FREE Java Enterprise J2EE developer tools!
Get your free copy of BEA WebLogic Workshop 8.1 today.
http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=5047&alloc_id=10808&op=click
_______________________________________________
Hardhats-members mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
