IS THE VA'S VistA SOFTWARE GOING "PRIVATE?" --

A VA Watchdog reader responds

to the latest VistA news.

Background here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes%20JUL%2006/newsflash07-02-2006-2.htm

This came via email from Tom, a regular VA Watchdog reader.

Email below:

---------------

In 2005, the VA announced that it was freezing the Vista software development within the VA system, in order to conduct a review and assessment. It was all quite proper, you know. In order for the VA to move forward into the 21^st century, it would be important to evaluate where its healthcare records system had been, and where it felt it needed to go. That might be enough for the public to accept the announcement on its face value. However, it is now almost a year later, and the freeze remains in place. In fact, at a recent conference, an announcement was made by Dr. Karen Bell, division director of the Quality Improvement Group at HHS’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She said, that VistA-Office “is undergoing a review right now by the secretary’s office…You can’t download anything” for the foreseeable future.


In response to this latest announcement, Bill Ackerman, Dept. of Veterans Affairs & M Systems Plus, wrote the following in a Letter To The Editor:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I just read your article from Canada, "LinuxInsider: Healthcare Experts Question Open-Source Apps." Those so-called experts have no idea what they are talking about. The VA has had an Electronic Health Record (EHR) for over 25 years. And this EHR has and is open source. This EHR is in production and running at over 160 VA Facilities and hundreds of VA Clinics around the U.S. This software is in use in several State Facilities around the U.S. and has been implemented around the world, I think even in Canada.

The package I speak of is Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA). The VistA Software had been and still is developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VistA is a complete hospital system with an integrated EHR. The VistA software has a track record of success dating back to the early 1980s and is still being improved and implemented today. All the VistA software is public domain and open source and can be downloaded off of the Internet or a CD can be ordered for the cost of the media and shipping via a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request. This software can and is working in Linux in the VA with great success. A reduced version of VistA has been developed, VistA-Lite. VistA-Lite allows Small Clinics and Doctors Offices to use a subset of VistA software and thus support the EHR.

For more information please visit //www1.va.gov/ < http://www1.va.gov/vista_monograph >/, //worldvista.org/ < http://www.worldvista.org/ >/ and //www.hardhats.org/ < http://www.hardhats.org/ >/. I think you will be surprised.”

--Bill Ackerman http://www.ectnews.com/letters/705//

------------------------------------------------------------------------

More from Tom:

There are a couple of obvious scenarios to play out with the Vista software (not to be confused with Microsoft’s Vista software). The VA healthcare system has funded the Vista software, electing decades ago, to utilize Open Source (freely available) software. The fact that taxpayers pay for this development, ensures that all American taxpayers are the owners of the software, and entitled to use it. In fact, if the medical profession in our country were to adopt Vista as the standard electronic health record, it would make it possible for any American, anywhere in the world to have instant access to their medical information. In other words, it’s the taxpayers that need to decide whether the door should be closed, and the software should not be available for public use.

For over a year, the VA has had the door closed. Whatever development is taking place on the system, is no longer available to the public. If there has been no development, then Vista has been dying a slow death. At some point, the Vista project will no longer be viable, and taxpayers will be forced to outsource the VA electronic medical records system to private, proprietary software company(ies). When that happens, the price of healthcare for veterans will go through the roof, and you can bet that Americans will no longer be able to envision a global access network to their electronic medical information.

The Vista system is Open Source software. That means it is freely available to anyone. It cannot be closed, and owned by a private company. Should a private company attempt to take ownership of Vista, they will be subject to legal action. So, from the private company perspective, it is far more inviting to consider following a strategy that leads to the strangulation and death of Vista, as it now exists. We need only look to the actions of those in power, and in decision making positions, to understand clearly, that indeed, that is the strategy that is being played out before the public. It is an arrogant and blatant slap in the face for every American taxpayer, and at the expense of our veterans, who have no other choice, than to rely on Vista to maintain and care for their medical information.

---------------

Larry Scott

(go back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page)

	Web www.vawatchdog.org

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such materials available in an effort to advance understanding of veterans' issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the included information for educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml   If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
 

Now we have VA Watchdog Stuff

Cups, Hats, Shirts and more

Click here to order and support the site