News Clips

Got an Idea for a Healthcare Mobile App? Apply For a Rock Health Grant.

Ruth Suehle | OpenSource.com | April 5, 2011

Applications are now being accepted for Rock Health, a program rewarding ideas that will "catalyze innovation in the interactive health space." Rock Health's mission is to enable and empower an entrepreneurial cure for the relative lack of innovation in the health sector. The world of patient care and healthy living is foreign to the technological creativity found in social media, games and other verticals. Rock Health directly targets the gap between these ecosystems, enabling high-impact innovation.

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A Truly Open VistA

Gunnar Hellekson | OpenSource.com | April 5, 2011

The VA has released a draft RFP to create a new open source project around their electronic health record system, VistA. This is a landmark event for both the VA and the open source community. The need for cheap and robust EHR systems is clear, and the VA has one of the leading platforms.

See https://www.fbo.gov/notices/1b174bb5c6f6770e1032ef15ab3bcedb

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OMB Releases IT Dashboard, TechStat Code Amid Program Funding Uncertainty

Molly Bernhart Walker | Fierce Government IT | April 4, 2011

The Office of Management and Budget has released the open source software code behind the IT Dashboard. Read More »

VA Holds Lessons for Health Care

Bob Dole | Politico | April 4, 2011

Decision makers would do well to study the health care delivery system of the Department of Veterans Affairs. To meet the challenges of the nation’s largest integrated health system, VA has developed strategic public-private partnerships that are crucial to its mission.

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VA Looks for Open Source 'Custodial Agent'

David Perera | FierceGovernmentIT | April 4, 2011

The Veterans Affairs Department is moving ahead with a plan to set up a moderated "open source ecosystem" forming around its electronic health record, known as VistA.

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VA Advances Plans For Open Source EHR System

Nicole Lewis | InformationWeek | April 4, 2011

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released a draft request for proposals to develop an electronic health record (EHR) system based on open source technology. According to the presolicitation notice, dated March 31, VA is seeking to establish a custodial agent to help transform the Veterans Integrated System Technology Architecture, or VistA -- the EHR system used at 153 major VA hospitals and more than 800 community-based outpatient clinics across the United States. Read More »

Necessity Driving Leery Pharma "open"

George Miller | FierceBiotechIT | April 4, 2011

When it comes to open-source drug R&D, "the clinical side is the conservative side," says Ken Getz, senior research fellow at the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. But the downturn in the economy has stimulated thinking among big pharmas.

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Dundee Scores Double Win at BBSRC Awards

Press Release | University of Dundee | April 3, 2011

The University of Dundee issued the following news release: The University of Dundee has won two of the three major prizes at the 2011 BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) Impact Awards....'These awards from the BBSRC further boost our determination to turn out graduates and carry out research which will carry this impact forward into the future.' Professor Swedlow, based in the College of Life Sciences, was named Innovator of the Year 2011 for his work on the Open Microscopy Environment (OME) - a revolutionary venture into open source software.

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Mick Ebeling: The Invention That Unlocked A Locked-In Artist

Staffwriter | TED | April 1, 2011

The nerve disease ALS left graffiti artist TEMPT paralyzed from head to toe, forced to communicate blink by blink. In a remarkable talk at TEDActive, entrepreneur Mick Ebeling shares how he and a team of collaborators built an open-source invention that gave the artist -- and gives others in his circumstance -- the means to make art again. Read More »

Direct pilots: E-mail piece easy, integration takes work

Mary Mosquera | Government Health IT | April 1, 2011

With a number of Direct Project pilots popping up around the country, healthcare providers who want to have the capability to perform simple exchanges can take heart that this is one technology that is straightforward to use, even if it isn't quite "plug-and-play." Read More »

One Doctor Aims For Better Health Care In Iraq

Mike Shuster | NPR | April 1, 2011

...[Dr. Adel] Hanson came up with a solution that could fight corruption at all levels in the medical system. It's a computerized medical records system called WorldVista. It was developed for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and has now spread all over the world. Hanson wants to bring it to Iraq, and so far he has the agreement of the minister of defense, the minister of health and the Kurdish minister of health.

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VA-DoD Joint EHR to be Commercial, Not Necessarily Proprietary

Molly Bernhart Walker | Government Health IT | April 1, 2011

The future Veterans Affairs and Defense Department joint electronic health record system will not necessarily be built on proprietary software, said VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker--despite a leaked memo that emphasizes "commercial solutions" for the project. 

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VA Seeks Partners for Open Source Electronic Health Records System

Bob Brewin | NextGov | April 1, 2011

The Veterans Affairs Department has released a draft request for proposals to develop the next generation of its next-generation electronic health record system based on open source software.

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VA, Citing Taxpayer Savings, Seeks Open Source EHR

Mary Mosquera | Government Health IT | April 1, 2011

The Veterans Affairs Department has started to move toward an open source model to modernize its acclaimed VistA electronic health record (EHR) system. VA expects to begin conversion to an open source iteration of VistA (Veterans Integrated Systems Technology Architecture) by summer, said VA Secretary Eric Shinseki in an April 1 announcement that it will release a draft document requesting vendors to offer proposals.

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Open Health: Improving Health the Open Source Way

Lori Mehen | OpenSource.com | April 1, 2011

Welcome to the Health channel on opensource.com

The stories we share and bring to life here are inspired by health innovation happening around the globe. We highlight how the principles of open source—transparency, information-sharing, community-building, and collaboration—are playing a vital role in the new ways people are thinking about health. Read More »