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CAN THE VA'S VistA COMPUTER SYSTEM BE SAVED? --
VistA, the public record computing system
pioneered by
the VA, is under threat because, critics say,
it's too old.
For more about the VistA computer system, use the
VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=vista&op=and
Story here...
http://healthcare.zdnet.com/?p=1230
Story below:
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Can VistA be saved?
by Dana Blankenhorn
VistA, the public record computing system
pioneered by the Veterans’ Administration, is under threat because,
critics say, it’s too old.
That’s true. VistA is based on a program called
MUMPS, originally
developed at Massachusetts General Hospital in the 1960s. A great
front-end for database-driven applications. A breakthrough in its day.
Its day was yesterday.
But now
ClearHealth, whose software is designed for medical clinics, has given
VistA a Web front-end and created
WebVista.
You get all that programming background and a modern interface.
Fred Trotter calls it the
Holy Grail.
“It would be simple to install and configure like a web app, but it would
have the sheer power elegance of VistA.”
 These
are early days. So far, Trotter has only seen screen shots of the new
product, and ClearHealth’s Web site says it is just now looking for beta
testers.
But the breakthrough eliminates many common
objections to the software, and makes it easy to extend into directions
like payments where it hasn’t traditionally been strong.
It’s hard to tell what this may mean in terms of
VistA’s use by government. Ideologues seem determined to blow out anything
which threatens their vendor-based assumptions of what’s right. Saving
VistA may make these folks more anxious to destroy it.
But ClearHealth, as well as
Medsphere, are giving VistA new
life in the private sectore, and the
WorldVistA project is giving it new adherents worldwide.
It may just get by with a little help from its
friends.
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posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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