Indian Health Service (IHS)

See the following -

Medsphere Supports Renewed Call for Extension of Financial Incentives for EHR Adoption to Behavioral Health Facilities

Press Release | Medsphere | January 7, 2015

Medsphere Systems Corporation...today joined the growing chorus of voices supporting the Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2013 (S.1517). This legislation, introduced by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) a little more than a year ago, would amend the Public Health Service and Social Security acts to define behavioral and mental health professionals as healthcare providers, making behavioral health hospitals eligible for Meaningful Use financial incentives for adopting EHRs. Read More »

Medsphere Systems Marks 10 Years of Better Patient Care Through Affordable Healthcare Technology

Press Release | Medsphere Systems Corporation | November 27, 2012

A decade after the founding of Medsphere, interest in the company's OpenVista EHR remains strong. Their open source solution rapidly delivers federal Meaningful Use funds to its constantly expanding customer base

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Medsphere Systems Merges with MBS/Net

Press Release | Medsphere Systems Corporation , MBS/Net, Inc. | February 23, 2016

Medsphere Systems Corporation and MBS/Net, Inc., today announced the merger of the two companies, effectively adding MBS/Net’s ambulatory physician practice-oriented services and proprietary applications to Medsphere’s existing focus on affordable healthcare IT solutions and services for acute and inpatient behavioral health settings. Moving forward, MBS/Net will retain its name and operate as a division of Medsphere; the expanded company will now offer a broader menu of healthcare information technology (IT) solutions and services for integrated delivery networks and standalone physician practices...

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Medsphere to Grow Interoperable Healthcare IT Platform with $40 Million Preferred Equity Investment from TPG Sixth Street Partners

Press Release | Medsphere, TPG Sixth Street Partners | January 14, 2020

Medsphere Systems Corporation...today announced new $40 million funding to support organic growth and pursue opportunistic strategic acquisitions through a preferred equity investment by TPG Sixth Street Partners. "We are pleased to add a new partner to our software solutions-driven campaign for quality, affordable healthcare," said Medsphere President and CEO Irv Lichtenwald. "Our technology and business model allow all providers to address core needs and we are energized by the support of institutions like TPG Sixth Street Partners." "Medsphere represents a compelling opportunity to support a differentiated healthcare technology platform," said Michael McGinn, Partner and Co-Head of TPG Sixth Street Partners' Capital Solutions business.

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Munnecke on "Dots-First" vs. "Links-First" Metadata Approach, or Why ICD10 is Going to Fail

Note that, even in 1986, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs was savvy to, and advocating the use of metadata (then called the “data dictionary – a roadmap to the database.”  It understood its use in VistA (then called DHCP), its role in portability (then with the Indian Health Service), and hopes to use it for the Department of Defense’s Composite Health Care System. Read More »

Open Health Round-Up For 2014: Notable Articles, Reports, And Events

Even the hidebound field of health care can undergo a lot of change over the course of one year. Key health IT trends that I saw throughout 2014 are summarized in another article. Here I'll list some of the most notable articles and reports related to open source, standards, and transparency in health. Read More »

Open Letter to Chuck Hagel: DoD still doesn’t know what the hell they are doing

...I fear that you are paving a road to a hellish destination.  Rather than lifting up the VA eligibility problem to a shiny new common information system, you are on the verge of dragging health IT into the same bureaucratic vortex that has already done so much damage in the past.  AHLTA was declared “intolerable” in a Congressional hearing 4 years ago.... Read More »

Open Source and EHRs: A proven reality and invaluable opportunity

Michael J. Doyle | Healthcare IT News | September 20, 2011

The marriage between open source technology and electronic health records is at first blush, greeted by many with skepticism regarding robustness and efficacy. In truth, persistent myths obscure an intriguing reality: Open source EHR systems are not only possible but already in place. Read More »

Open source EHRs empower America's community health centers

How the economics of open source make sense for large scale, national healthcare infrastructure projects. A recent study  published by the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, examined "the use of open source electronic health records within the federal safety net."

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Open Source Electronic Health Records For Education And Training

In spite of being very involved in the field of Health Informatics I only recently became aware of VistA for Education (VFE), which has all of the aforementioned attributes of an  excellent solution for EHR education purposes. VFE was developed as a result of a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) to supplement the ONC Health Information Technology (HIT) curriculum. Electronic health records (EHRs) are more than just the electronic equivalent of paper-based health records. Electronic health data is easier to search, share and archive, compared to paper records. Additionally, EHRs can be embedded with clinical decision support to alert and remind physicians of patient safety and preventive medicine measures.

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Open Source Immunization Forecaster Updated to Support Pfizer COVID Vaccine

Press Release | HLN Consulting | December 16, 2020

On December 15, 2020, HLN released a new version (v1.26.2) of the Immunization Calculation Engine (ICE) in support of the Pfizer COVID vaccine. ICE is a state-of-the-art open source software system that provides clinical decision support for immunizations for use in Immunization Information Systems (IIS), Electronic Health Record (EHR), and Personal Health Record (PHR) Systems. Version 1.26.2 includes support for new COVID-19 Vaccine Group (with the Pfizer vaccine only). A subsequent release, coming soon, will likely add support for the Moderna vaccine. Read More »

OpenVista Goes Live in New TaraVista Behavioral Health Hospital

Press Release | Medsphere Systems Corporation | December 6, 2016

Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of affordable and interoperable healthcare IT platform solutions, today announced that the company’s OpenVista electronic health record (EHR) is live in TaraVista Behavioral Health Center, a new inpatient facility in Devens, Massachusetts. Originally conceived and launched by Health Partners New England (HPNE), TaraVista utilizes the creative forefront of architecture, design and medicine to exemplify the future of behavioral health care...

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Oroville Hospital CEO Outlines How VistA Can Help Hospitals Survive the HITECH Act and Obamacare

Press Release | Oroville Hospital | February 21, 2014

Robert Wentz, President and CEO of Oroville Hospital, was one of the keynote speakers at the 28th VistA Community Meeting (VCM) in Sacramento, CA. Wentz's presentation, titled “Obamacare: a provider's perspective. An opportunity for VistA and private sector Hospitals,” outlined the clear advantages of using the VistA EHR as the United States moves towards a new health system based on Obamacare...Wentz detailed in his presentation why VistA is the best option for private hospitals in the US that want to stay in business under the new rules created by Obamacare. Wentz described the major changes currently taking place in the healthcare industry as a result of Obamacare, both in terms of financial issues as well as patient/consumer side...Wentz laid out how Vista coupled with a reshaping of how care is delivered can sustains hospitals through the changes that Obamacare will bring to the healthcare system...

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Oroville Hospital Creates EHR Development Office to Continue Improving Its VistA Implementation

Press Release | Oroville Hospital | June 6, 2013

The extraordinary success of its EHR roll out and CPOE implementation has led Oroville Hospital to create of a software development office to continue enhancing and customizing its open source VistA EHR Read More »

Oroville Hospital's EHR Implementation Cost Well Under Industry Average

Press Release | Oroville Hospital | January 23, 2013

CEO Robert Wentz addresses VistA Community Meeting in Sacramento where he updated the audience on the latest developments of their open source VistA implementation as well as detailed cost data. Read More »