American Samoa Medical Center Authority Selects OpenVista as Public Health EHR

American territory will use VistA-based solution to meet Meaningful Use and support broad public health services for residents

Pago Pago, American Samoa, and Carlsbad, CA—Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of affordable and interoperable healthcare IT platform solutions, today announced that the American Samoa Medical Center Authority (ASMCA) and the American Samoa Department of Health (DOH) will implement the company’s OpenVista® electronic health record (EHR). OpenVista will be used at the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center (LBJ), the main facility for the American Samoa island group, as well as throughout all ASMCA and DOH clinics.

An unincorporated American territory, American Samoa comprises five main islands and two coral atolls with a rich cultural heritage. The ethnic diversity of residents coupled with the territory’s geographic separation and modest economic opportunities create significant public health challenges.

"Because healthcare in American Samoa is primarily centered around LBJ, we must acquire the tools to manage population health in a financially responsible way, which makes OpenVista very appealing,” said CEO Joseph Davis-Fleming, FACHE, FHFMA. “The system is affordable—we can pay for it without a huge initial cash outlay—and it is certified for Meaningful Use 2014. OpenVista is also a very flexible, expandable and proven public health system that can be enhanced for our specific needs.”

Funded by Medicare/Medicaid block grants, U.S. Department of Interior funding and American Samoa government appropriations, LBJ embodies the idea of a community hospital system in most every way. Indeed, healthcare services include intensive care, pediatrics, maternity, surgery, and emergency and primary care. The hospital organization also provides outpatient clinic services that include OB/GYN, pediatrics, ophthalmology and dental.

“We’re very excited to welcome LBJ and the entire American Samoa Medical Center Authority to the OpenVista community. OpenVista is such a game changer for community hospital systems oriented around broad public health concerns,” said Irv Lichtenwald, Medsphere president and CEO. “At the Veterans Administration and the Indian Health Service, VistA and related systems are proven, adaptable tools for population health management. OpenVista provides the same flexibility in non-federal hospitals. We look forward to working with LBJ administrators and clinicians to the benefit of American Samoa residents.”

Medsphere's OpenVista is the commercialized version of the VistA EHR created and developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) over 20 years ago and credited with helping turn the agency into a national leader in quality patient care. Using open source code available from the VA through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), OpenVista can be implemented much more quickly and affordably than traditional proprietary solutions.

About LBJ Tropical Medical Center

Opened in 1968, the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center (LBJ) is a regional acute care facility licensed for 150 beds and located on the island of Tutuila, the main island of the American Samoa group; it serves the entire population of Tutuila, Aunu'u and the Manu'a Islands. LBJ offers a full-range of primary care clinic services and some subspecialty services to the population of American Samoa.

About Medsphere and OpenVista

Founded in 2002 and based in Carlsbad, Calif., Medsphere Systems Corporation comprises a dedicated group of clinical and technology professionals working to make quality health IT solutions accessible to organizations of virtually any size, shape or budget. Medsphere’s OpenVista® is a portfolio of clinical support products and professional services that leverages an electronic health record (EHR) system developed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This VistA EHR is widely credited with helping transform the VA into the nation's most efficient and clinically effective healthcare organization. OpenVista, the most fully commercialized VistA offspring, is a responsible reapplication of the VA’s $8.5 billion investment, which recent studies show have yielded $3.09 billion in benefits, primarily from the near elimination of medication administration issues and duplicate testing.  

Medsphere’s subscription-based pricing model enables hospital, clinic and integrated delivery network customers to pay for OpenVista from their operating budget with no upfront costs or back-end balloon payments. Expert implementation and other services facilitate fluid and rapid transition to a paperless clinical environment focusing on best practices and evidence-based medicine in six to nine months. Medsphere also actively nurtures the Healthcare Open Source Ecosystem, a global community of customers, partners, developers and other online collaborators who drive OpenVista innovation, and provide a parallel development and support structure.