Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

See the following -

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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OSEHRA Community Undertakes Long-Elusive Alignment of VistA Code Base

Press Release | OSEHRA | November 25, 2014

The first Open Source Electronic Health Record Alliance (OSEHRA) VistA Code Alignment Workshop was held in Oakland, California, November 19-21, 2014. An unprecedented effort, the workshop brought together 27 principal developers of VistA from government and private organizations dedicated to open source solutions for the challenges facing healthcare. The primary objective of the workshop was to achieve compatibility among contributed code within the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA), the EHR software used at approximately 2,500 facilities worldwide. “A VistA code base with a common community-aligned platform will allow an unimpeded exchange of innovations and reduce duplicitous developments among users and developers,” said Dr. Seong K. Mun, President of OSEHRA. Read More »

OSEHRA Proposes Visionary Open Digital Health Platform for the VA

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) recently released a Request for Information (RFI) calling for advice on how to build an open, "interoperable digital health platform." The RFI received 40 responses. Only one of those was publicly released, the one from OSEHRA. That the open source EHR organization was the only one that has been open in their submissions, by itself, tells a story. There are some in the VA proposing replacing the open source VistA EHR with a "Commercial" lock-in product. Proprietary EHR vendors are circling the VA like sharks smelling blood in the water, and they don't want the public to know what they are up to...The OSEHRA response below. Note that several dozen OSEHRA member companies and associates participated in drafting this response.

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OSS Procurement FAQ: Part 2 Boo!

Michelle Koeth | Civic Commons | October 31, 2011

It’s Halloween, and while some procurement issues can be quite dry, I figured for part 2, we could take on a more festive and spooky theme focusing on some edge cases discussed by some of the government staff I interviewed. As scary as some might sound, as edge cases, they are not the most frequently encountered issues. Read More »

OSTP Asks Agencies For 'Bold, Ambitious' Open Government Initiatives

Jason Miller | Federal News Radio | March 3, 2014

The administration's open government initiative has been quiet after its initial push during the first two years of President Barack Obama's administration. But new guidance from the Office of Science and Technology Policy is trying to reinvigorate agency efforts. Read More »

Pikeville Medical Center Selects OpenVista Healthcare IT Platform

Press Release | Medsphere, Pikeville Medical Center | January 25, 2016

Medsphere Systems Corporation,..today announced that  Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) has selected the OpenVista® electronic health record (EHR) system for implementation. The 261-bed regional referral center and its clinics will utilize OpenVista's flexibility and comprehensive clinical support, as well as Medsphere’s rapid implementation process, to affordably manage care and realize technology objectives. As a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, PMC patients have access to Mayo Clinic expertise without having to travel to an actual Mayo facility. 

Polish NGO To Obama: Mass Surveillance Is Not Freedom

Katitza Rodriguez | Electronic Frontier Foundation | June 3, 2014

...Since October 2013, the Panoptykon Foundation, a Polish NGO, has tried to understand the relationship between the Polish and United States’ secret service organizations. Panoptykon believes that the Polish government, by accepting mass and pre-emptive surveillance, is reverting back to the much contested practices of the former, authoritarian regime—practices that triggered the revolution 25 years ago...

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Royal Berks Finances Hit By Cerner's Millennium

Rebecca Todd | E-Health Insider | February 13, 2013

[UK's] Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is facing significant operational and financial pressures after implementing Cerner Millennium and expects to spend another £6.2m implementing the system this year. Read More »

Sacred Oak Medical Center Selects Medsphere's OpenVista EHR

Press Release | Medsphere, RedShift Healthcare Management and Consulting | June 16, 2016

Medsphere Systems Corporation...today announced that Sacred Oak Medical Center has chosen the OpenVista® electronic health record (EHR) system for implementation. The brand new Houston-based inpatient behavioral health hospital will open later this summer with 20 beds and expand over time to an 80-bed capacity..."The benefits of EHR implementation apply to behavioral health care and addiction treatment, just as they do in acute medical care,” said RedShift Managing Partner Starsky Bomer. 

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Stanford Researchers Show Fracking's Impact to Drinking Water Sources

Press Release | Stanford University | March 29, 2016

Only one industry is allowed to inject toxic chemicals into underground sources of drinking water – hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Concerns about this practice have riled the U.S. political landscape and communities around the country, perhaps nowhere more so than in Pavillion, Wyoming, population 231. A new study by Stanford scientists published in Environmental Science & Technology finds for the first time that fracking operations near Pavillion have had clear impact to underground sources of drinking water.

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Sunlight Foundation's Eric Mill Scouts Out New Developments in Government

Jason Hibbets | opensource.com | August 1, 2012

Scout rapidly searches all kinds of government activity—bills, regulations, speeches—at the state and federal level, and can notify you about all of it.

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The Army Doesn't Want You To See The Results Of Its Shady PTSD Probe

Alexander Abad-Santos | The Atlantic Wire | February 28, 2013

This past fall, the Army found out the results of a probe meant to determine if psychiatrists were reversing soldiers' PTSD diagnoses to save the government money by denying them medical retirements. Months later, they still don't want anyone knowing what's in those files. Read More »

The Border Patrol Wants To Arm Drones

Philip Bump | The Atlantic Wire | July 2, 2013

Documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation from the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Patrol indicate that the agency is close to finalizing payload standards for its drone aircraft. Among the things the CBP might want to use in its unmanned aircraft: "non-lethal weapons designed to immobilize" targets. Read More »

The FOIA Machine: Software Saves Reporters From Government Hell

Klint Finley | Wired | July 22, 2013

They say freedom isn’t free. And that’s certainly true of FOIA requests. Read More »

The Gruesome Statistics Behind One Of America's Most Dangerous Jobs

Ben Schiller | Co.Exist | March 1, 2016

New government data shows that hand amputations are scarily common for meatpacking workers. Meatpacking is one of the dangerous jobs you can do in America. Injuries requiring time away from work are three times more common than U.S. industry as a whole. With tenderizers, grinders, hooks and extruders all around, there's always a chance you'll come off worse...

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