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OHNews Weekly News Summary - 11/18/2013

November 18, 2013 - The following is a brief listing of some of the hot news items, selected news clips, feature stories, and blogs posted on Open Health News (OHNews) over the past week that we believe will be of interest to our readers across the U.S. and around the world. We've also included links to some upcoming open source and health IT conferences and events.

Some of the key themes dominating the news this week involved:

  1. Issues surrounding the rollout of the national Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) on HealthCare.gov;
  2. The latest news and information about the OpenEMR system and community activities;
  3. The continuing challenge of dealing with 'patent trolls'; and
  4. Ongoing news about a wide range of innovative 'Open Health' activity and solutions from around the world.

Roger Maduro
Publisher & Managing Editor, Open Health News


Headlines

OHN News, Features & Blog Posts

Selected News Clips

Brief Abstracts of Selected News Stories

U.S. Peace Corps Adopts OpenEMR for use in 77 Countries World-wide

The U.S. Peace Corps recently awarded a five-year contract to EnSoftek to implement OpenEMR in its field offices around the world. OpenEMR is one of the most widely implemented electronic medical record (EMR) systems in the world with more than 15,000 installs around the globe and translations into 19 languages. The total solution will also includes Dynamics CRM, SharePoint, BizTalk, SQL Server, and other software applications and will be known collectively as PCMEDICS. Read More »

The Growing 'OpenEMR' Business Community

The OpenEMR community has been very active over this past year.  This 'open source' electronic medical record (EMR) system continues to be enhanced by developers around the globe, the number of healthcare providers that have installed and begun using the system (over 15,000 sites world-wide) continues to grow, and a fairly robust business community of companies offering services and support is now in place. Read More »

EMR Direct Now Integrated with OpenEMR

EMR Direct is on a mission to modernize medical work flow and improve patient care by simplifying healthcare interoperability. The company is committed to developing technologies that protect patient privacy, improve the quality and coordination of care, increase productivity, and reduce costs. Recently, EMR Direct donated its code to OpenEMR which integrated their solution into OpenEMR version 4.1.2  They have also  announced their participation in the Tennessee Health eShare program, facilitating access to Direct messaging for healthcare providers across that state. Read More »

Overview of the National Intelligence Council report on "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds"

Take the time to look over the fifth installment in the National Intelligence Council’s (NIC) series of reports aimed at providing a framework for thinking about the future entitled "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds". It's an excellent report well worth reading.In this volume, they expanded their coverage of disruptive technologies, devoting a separate section to it in the work. The report also contains a chapter on the potential trajectories for the U.S. role in the International system. The report is intended to stimulate thinking about the rapid and vast geopolitical changes characterizing the world today and possible global trajectories during the next 15-20 years. Read More »

HealthCare.gov error rates going down, consultant says

The technology team working on the troubled HealthCare.gov has made significant progress in recent days, with error rates on the U.S. government's health insurance shopping site down to less than 1% from 6%  just after its launch, officials said Friday. Read More »

106,185 Americans selected health plans in first reporting period of open enrollment

Affordable Care Act (ACA) - 106,185 Americans selected health plans in first reporting period of open enrollment and 975,407 customers went through the process but have not yet selected a plan; an additional 396,261 assessed or determined eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. Read More »

Power of Open Source Demonstrated by Successful Response to EHR Vulnerability

Open source collaboration has tightened the security of one of the most widely used Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems in the world. In July 2013, Georgia Tech graduate student Doug Mackey evaluated the VistA EHR for a term project on computer security. That project uncovered a significant security vulnerability, catalyzed a landmark collaboration between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the open source community, and created a textbook example of how the concept of open source can improve system security. Read More »

CHICA, automated system developed by Regenstrief and IU, improves Autism screening rate

An automated system developed by researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University to help pediatricians focus on the specific health needs of each patient in the short time allotted for preventive care improves autism screening rates by identifying at-risk children at the 24-month visit. Nationwide children typically are not diagnosed with autism until age 4½ or 5 years. Read More »

How Online Mapmakers are Helping the Red Cross Save Lives in the Philippines

 
It will be months before we know the true damage brought about by super typhoon Haiyan. The largest death tolls now associated with the storm are only estimates. Aid workers from across the world are now flying to the island nation, or they just recently arrived there. Read More »

Open source collaboration with VA betters VistA EHR security

The work of a graduate student at Georgia Tech has led to the creation of a patch to repair a security vulnerability in one of the most widely used EHR systems, according to an announcement by the Open Source Electronic Health Record Agent (OSEHRA). Read More »

Open source protection against software patents

The troubling news that a consortium of huge companies is using Nortel's patent portfolio to attack competitors underlines the problem. Continuing their war on Android using purchased patents rather than fair competition, the funders of Rockstar highlight the need for both patent reform and patent defenses.  Read More >>