Latest News

The Status of Health Information Exchange (HIE) Networks in the U.S.

Read about the latest status of HIE networks in the U.S., especially at the local level. The "2012 Report on Health Information Exchange" analyzes the latest results from the Annual Survey of Health Information Exchange (HIE) conducted by the eHealth Initiative (eHI) organization. It provides an overview of how HIE networks are supporting healthcare reform at a local, regional, and national level. Read More »

OpenEMR Continues to grow in Popularity and Use

OpenEMR recently posted a news release with data on the number of downloads of their popular open source electronic medical record (EMR) software. The number of practitioners using the system and the patient population they are treating are staggering – a real eye-opener. It's amazing that many noted management consulting & research organizations still fail to acknowledge or report on the rapidly growing number of high quality, open source health IT solutions now widely deployed. Read More »

Open Source 3D Printing Technology & Healthcare

During 2012, we saw a dramatic increase in the study and use of 3D printing technology by biotechnology firms and academia for possible use in tissue engineering applications. Building organs and body parts using 'open' 3D printing techniques, layers of living cells are deposited onto a gel medium or sugar matrix and slowly built up to form three dimensional structures. This field of biotech research has been variously referred to as organ printing, bio-printing, body part printing and computer-aided tissue engineering, among other terms. Read More »

Key health IT systems moving into the final phase of the Open Source Maturity Model

A number of popular 'open source' electronic health record (EHR) solutions are poised to move into the final phase of the Open Source Maturity Model.  OpenEMR, OpenMRS, and VistA have all reached Phase 5 and are in the process of meeting all the qualifications to move into Phase 6, the final phase of the maturity model. The Open Source Maturity Model, as defined by Open Health News (OHNews), consists of 6 phases. They include...

Read More »

GTI Implements VistA System at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences

The prestigious government of India hospital, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC), All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi is one of GTI Infotel’s clients that has contracted with them to implement and maintain the VistA electronic health record (EHR) system. GTI is also under contract by JPNATC to upgrade VistA and has added several other software modules and services for the hospital, such as a web-based interface, a CRM module, and an off-site Call Center. Read More »

The Dynamics of Opening Government Data

According to a white paper released this week by the Center for Technology in Government entitled "The Dynamics of Opening Government Data", government agencies in the U.S. and around the world are working to advance 'open government' principles and use 'open data'  in more effective ways to better serve the public. Read More »

'Open' Grid Solutions in Healthcare Continue to Make News

'Open' grid technologies coupled with cloud computing continue to make headlines in the news, especially in the fields of healthcare and bioinformatics. Much of it involves the use of 'open source' software tools such as the Globus Toolkit, Hadoop, Open Grid Engine, OpenStack, and more. Some of the recent 'open source' grid computing solutions that have been making news in the world of healthcare include Archimedes, Globus Online, and a growing number of Health Grid projects. Read More »

Open Source EMR Alternatives for Kenya

MediGrail implemented the OpenEMR system in a rural government hospital in Kenya in January this year. They went live on 13 April 2012. Since then, the system has handled 30,162 patient encounters. Unfortunately, this successful system implementation event seems to have gone largely unnoticed by the Kenyan government. Read More »

CPOE: Meaningful Use’s Primary Obstacle Is VistA’s Greatest Strength

 

A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) identifies the implementation and adoption of Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) functionality as the number one barrier for hospitals working toward Meaningful Use Stage 1. Entitled “Overcoming challenges to achieving meaningful use: Insights from hospitals that successfully received Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services payments in 2011,” the study findings are significant because the say a great deal about the way different health IT platforms have been developed.

The Latest on the 'Open Source' Health IT Jobs Market

Looking to find a job associated with 'Open' Health IT projects or organizations. Recent news and findings, starting with a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are very positive. Total employment is expected to increase by 20.5 million jobs from 2010 to 2020. Industries and occupations related to health care, personal care and social assistance are projected to have some of the fastest job growth over this next decade. Read More »