OSEHRA Holds Code Alignment Workshop-Webinar Report 11/21

OSEHRA has been holding a "Code Alignment Workshop" in Oakland, CA that has brought together leading corporate members to work out how they can collaborate on a core verion of the open source VistA EHR...More details in the note below and in an online briefing on the meeting tomorrow at 08:30 AM Pacific Time.

OSEHRA has been holding a "Code Alignment Workshop" in Oakland, CA that has brought together leading corporate members to work out how they can collaborate on a core verion of the open source VistA EHR. This is a huge milestone for the VistA Community as well as open source in healthcare. More details in the note below and in an online briefing on the meeting tomorrow at 08:30 AM Pacific Time.

Interest in VistA is growing exponentially as hospitals in the US have realized they spent over a trillion dollars in lousy proprietary EHRs with VistA being a far better and substantially cheaper solution. OSEHRA corporate membership has more than doubled since their Fall conference (OHNews report here).

Note from OSEHRA Community Organizer Kris Prendergast

The first OSEHRA VistA Code Alignment Workshop is under way in Oakland, California.  Corporate Members and invited guests are reviewing key components of VistA, particularly MSC FILEMAN 22.2, and will lay the groundwork for a “common core” that can be shared among community members.  Until now, even OSEHRA members have been largely unable to take advantage of each other’s enhancements to VistA code due to the lack of code alignment.  This critical meeting will establish an aligned core within OSEHRA VistA, the first increment of which will be made available to the community (complete with its own patch management system) in March 2015.  Participants include members such as the BITS Group, DSS, FIS GT.M, Medsphere, Oroville Hospital, PwC, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and VISTA Expertise Network, together with Collaborating Partners VA and IHS. 

While attendance at this initial meeting was limited to ensure a manageable working session, the alignment effort will continue with further calls and meetings.  In order to keep the wider open source community informed, the meeting will conclude with a summary WebEx call at 8:30AM PST (11:30AM EST) on Friday, November 21.  This call will be open to the entire community, and all interested parties are encouraged to utilize the WebEx connection so that slides are visible.  Click here for registration, which will provide a calendar reminder.  The call will not only summarize the workshop proceedings, but also discuss the planned follow-on activities as the alignment process continues.

We look forward to your participation,

Kris Prendergast, CAE
Director, Community Management
OSEHRA 
900 N. Glebe Rd.
Arlington, VA  22203
Phone:  571-858-3205
www.osehra.org