VistA Community News

See the following -

Thinking About an Open Source Electronic Health Record

Dr. Peter Levin | FedScoop | March 15, 2011

Thirty years ago, when clinicians at VA first started building the software components for a “high tech” electronic health record, they stood at the vanguard of patient-centered care. At that time folks weren’t thinking much about plug-and-play modularization, market-based communities of interest, sleek development environments, or interoperable systems. Thanks to their persistence, creativity, and dedication, today Veterans enjoy among the highest standards of health care, and the VA has become a model and benchmark for safety, accessibility, and therapeutic outcomes. This is especially true of their VistA electronic health record (EHR).

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VA & DoD continue to collaborate on 'open source' and iEHR solutions

Bob Brewin | NextGov | August 3, 2012

The open source Web-based graphical user interface dubbed Janus will be just one part of a system that will allow doctors to view patients’ Defense and Veterans Affairs department integrated electronic records in one place, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said during his monthly media briefing Thursday.

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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 »

VA Begins Process to Create Open Source Electronic Health Record

Press Release | US Department of Veterans Affairs | April 1, 2011

Formally Announces Request for Proposal & Implementation Schedule

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today released a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) aimed at forming an Open Source community around its ground-breaking VistA (Veterans Integrated System Technology Architecture) electronic health record (EHR) system.  When award is made under a planned RFP for a custodial agent, VA will commit to deploy the Open Source version of VistA to all of its facilities, and will contribute all non-security essential modifications to the product it makes or pays for directly to the Open Source custodian.  VA will also commit to participate in Open Source VistA with other public and private sector participants.

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VA Calls for Open Source Health Record Proposals

Bob Brewin | NextGov | April 26, 2011

The Veterans Affairs Department released last Friday its request for proposals (RFP) for an outfit it calls a Custodial Agent to manage an "open source ecosystem" for development of its next generation electronic health record.

VA said it plans to use the Custodial Agent to set up and manage a code repository that will be used to update its current Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) health as well as provide software to the entire health care community. Read More »

VA Hospital in Colorado to Share Patient Data with Private Physicians

Pamela Lewis Dolan | amednews.com | May 18, 2011

VA hospital in Colorado to share patient data with private physicians: The Veterans Health Administration hopes this is the first of many projects in the U.S. to help streamline coordination of care. The Veterans Health Administration will begin testing a health information exchange between the Grand Junction (Colo.) VA Medical Center and Moab (Utah) Regional Hospital and surrounding physician practices.

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VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI)

The VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI) is a secure computing environment for VA researchers. VINCI provides a virtual computing workspace and analytic tools for researcher use. VINCI allows users to select software from many commercial, government, open-source, and custom analytic tools, including SAS/Grid, SQL, and R for use in the workspace. Read More »

VA Launches Health Information Exchange Pilot

Nicole Lewis | InformationWeek | April 13, 2011

As the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continues to build its health information technology infrastructure to serve the veteran population, the department said it will start a pilot project in the Richmond region to improve the delivery of veterans' health information. The pilot, announced last week, involves the Richmond VA Medical Center and MedVirginia (MedVA). Read More »

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 Marks the 10-Year Anniversary of the 'My HealtheVet' PHR System

In recognition of the 10th anniversary of the award-winning My HealtheVet system, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is urging all military veterans and active-duty service members to join the millions of others already using this online Personal Health Record (PHR) system. The VA is marking this milestone by asking everyone to help spread the word about the benefits of using My HealtheVet. The system allows veterans to access a wide variety of VA health care information and services online. Read More »

VA Releases Custodial Agent RFP

On Friday the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released its long-anticipated Request for Proposal (RFP) for an open source custodial agent. This custodial agent will manage the open source EHR ecosystem for VA's VistA system.  Read More »

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.

"As we work to ensure that we provide veterans with the best in health care, modernization of VistA is absolutely critical," VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a statement, referring to the Veterans Integrated System Technology Architecture, the agency's EHR system. "This move towards open source welcomes private sector partners to work with us to improve VistA, and is an important part of our strategy to ensure that VA clinicians have the best tools possible, and that veterans receive the best health care possible."

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VA starts online open source community for VistA

Alice Lipowicz | Federal Computer Week | August 31, 2011

The Veterans Affairs Department has started its online open-source community intended to leverage crowdsourced knowledge to update its Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) electronic health record system, officials announced. Read More »

VA's Baker Says VA, DOD Digital Record Systems Will Morph into Joint System

Alice Lipowicz | Federal Computer Week | April 29, 2011

The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments’ approaches to modernizing their health record systems may be slightly different, but their goals are aligned in developing a joint electronic health record (EHR) system, according to Roger Baker, assistant secretary for information and technology for the VA.

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VA's Baker talks VistA goals

Joseph Conn | Modern Healthcare | May 26, 2011

Roger Baker, assistant secretary for information technology at the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department, said the VA is committed completely to pursuing an open-source model for modernization of its VistA electronic health-record system.  Read More »