VistA Expo 2011: Key Takeaways from VistA Expertise Network Conference

From November 17th through November 20th, OSEHRA representatives including myself and Luis Ibanez attended the VistA Expertise Network meeting in Redmond, Washington.  Following an extensive and informative meeting with key community members, Luis and I took the following notes back to the OSEHRA management group, and have been actively discussing these with OSEHRA team members, and the community as a whole.  I have published these publicly, as to enable the community to comment on the various thoughts as we move the discussion along.

Key Takeaways:

1. Let’s get back to user-driven development.

The reason that innovation was exponential in the early years of VistA is due to providers, many of whom were also coders, and a direct method of communication between staff and developers.  The feedback loop between the end-user community and the development community must be closed for the rate of innovation to increase...