COSI 'Open' Health

DoD's "Naming Switcheroo" for its Health IT Systems

I may be way off base, but it seems to me that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is a master of the "Naming Switcheroo" when it comes to requesting funding for programs that may have run into trouble and used up most of their Congressionally approved funds. Read More »

Health IT Strategies to Enable More Patient/Provider Collaboration in the 21st Century

In the 1970's, most healthcare organizations began the process of using mainframe computers to automate their business processes, e.g. payroll, accounting, logistics. In the 1980's, healthcare organizations began the process of automating selected clinical departmental business processes using mini-computers or servers, e.g. patient registration, pharmacy, laboratory, radiology. Read More »

Electronic Medical Records for Cruise Ship Passengers

When I was on my last cruise, I started wondering if cruise ships have ever considered using some form of electronic medical record (EMR) system. It could come in very handy, especially the next time there is a disaster at sea – e.g. sinking ship, fire on board, breakdown at sea, an outbreak of disease, or... Not that that would ever happen. Cruise ships have been in the news a lot lately – and most of the news has not been good. That's too bad because I love cruising. I've been on multiple Carnival cruise line trips to the Caribbean and to the Mediterranean and have enjoyed them all. My latest cruise was a 2-week voyage on a Princess line cruise ship from Miami, through the Panama Canal, to Los Angeles. It was great. Read More »

Open Business Conference 2013 - Summary

The recent Open Business Conference held in San Francisco offered the opportunity to learn from business and technology experts working in the open source arena. It also allowed participants to network with open source peers, developers and sponsors. Read More »

Check out the enhanced ONC Health IT Dashboard

Want to better understanding health IT and the transformative changes that electronic health records (EHR) are having in our nation's health care system? Read More »

Observations on the latest 'Future of Open Source Survey'

A major theme running through this year's Future of Open Source Survey is that 'Open Source is Eating the Software World's Lunch.' The survey data shows that the 'Open Revolution' is having a major impact on both the Read More »

WHO Global Health Observatory & Other 'Open Data' Resources

Interested in learning more about 'open data' healthcare resources  around the globe? Check out the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Health Observatory.  This WHO information portal provides access to 'open' data, statistical analyses, and reports for monitoring the global health situation. Read More »

'Open Systems' for Consumers Comparison Shopping for Healthcare

Americans can comparison shop online for almost anything today. This ought to apply to the healthcare industry as well. How much are hospitals or clinics charging for medical procedures and other healthcare services? Where is the online Amazon, Best Buy, or Wal-Mart site that you can go to and check the prices before heading off to see your doctor. Read More »

HIMSS13: Open Source 'Best Practices' in the Federal Sector

The following are some of notes and observations from one of Open Health News content contributors, Marc Wine, on one of the sessions he attended about the VA VistA system, OSEHRA, and some Open Source 'Best Practices' within the Federal government and in the private sector. He recently attended a number of open source and government sessions at the recent HIMSS 2013 conference in New Orleans that attracted over 30,000 attendees. The following are some of his notes and observations from one of the sessions he attended about the VA VistA system, OSEHRA, and best practices Open Source 'Best Practices' within the Federal government and in the private sector. Read More »

An 'Open' Hospital Chargemaster System is Needed

Every hospital has what's known as a chargemaster, also known as charge description master (CDM). A charge master is a listing of every single procedure that a hospital may provide to its patients.  It is well established that chargemaster prices are inflated, vary widely from hospital to hospital, and often have no relation to the actual cost of providing care. Read More »