tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post4291459899363244838..comments2024-03-27T09:55:23.143-07:00Comments on Dispatch from the Digital Health Frontier: Open Source Medical RecordsJohn Halamkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04550236129132159307noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post-62322048683166514082008-09-18T11:43:00.000-07:002008-09-18T11:43:00.000-07:00Medsphere was once the leader in open source healt...Medsphere was once the leader in open source healthcare IT, but in 2006 <A HREF="http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/interview_with_fred_trotter_the_medsphere_saga" REL="nofollow">they sued their CTO</A> for (shock!) <B>releasing code as open source.</B><BR/><BR/>The <A HREF="http://blog.openitstrategies.com/2007/12/no-longer-dreading-subpoena.html" REL="nofollow">lawsuit was settled</A> last December. When I was working with them in 2005 they had a huge lead over their rivals. I don't know where they sit now because I’m outside that industry, but they must have lost a lot of momentum and influence that will be difficult to regain.Joel Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03837038327488766775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post-43395541006575560302008-08-23T03:52:00.000-07:002008-08-23T03:52:00.000-07:00Oran, your constant denigration of Mumps does not,...Oran, your constant denigration of Mumps does not, I'm afraid, stand up to scrutiny. The very features you appear to detest so vehemently are, somewhat ironically, becoming the very features that the likes of Amazon, Google and the Apache folks are now designing into their internet-scale database technologies. See <A HREF="http://www.outoftheslipstream.com/node/124" REL="nofollow"> this blog</A> for further background on this reality. <BR/><BR/>The fact is that Mumps is tried and tested and the healthcare products that have been built with it work well and have stood the test of time, all around the world. Indeed I'm not aware of one successful migration of these applications to "modern" technologies despite the best endeavours of some of the largest names in IT armed with sackloads of cash: our own UK NHS IT strategy being one such multi-billion pound embarassing example.<BR/><BR/>Modern developers are, in fact, investing in the very features that makes Mumps what it is. Perhaps the time has come for them to do the exact opposite of what you suggest, and invest in Mumps instead of the as yet unproven "new kids on the block".Rob Tweedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455762392019541755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post-79613066132738462542008-07-23T23:13:00.000-07:002008-07-23T23:13:00.000-07:00Hi John,Just a quick note to say that I've been fo...Hi John,<BR/><BR/>Just a quick note to say that I've been following your good work and I applaud it.Dr. Roy Schestowitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04422170397340869575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post-19148312441982922402008-07-19T13:58:00.000-07:002008-07-19T13:58:00.000-07:00So, John or someone, please educate me on how or w...So, John or someone, please educate me on how or whether this will interact at all with Google Health, Healthvault, or anything else?e-Patient Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11608258246509102466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post-33360490078542093082008-07-17T14:28:00.000-07:002008-07-17T14:28:00.000-07:00“Service” is not just “customer service” but also ...“Service” is not just “customer service” but also includes “software as a service” and “remote-hosting service,” which the larger, established vendors may be more capable of delivering.<BR/> <BR/>One additional thought, based on recent conversations triggered by Clay Shirky’s new book, <I>Here Comes Everybody.</I> The for-profit vendors have used profitability to be able to hire enough developers to create robust and innovative software. Some open source projects (like Linux or Apache) have managed to aggregate enough volunteer contributors to be equally robust and innovative, but many open source projects never reach that critical mass of developers. For small projects, this is not necessarily a problem because the end-user can simply “finish” the code himself, but for complex things like EMRs, long term innovation and product evolution will require lots (and lots) of developers. With open source EMR vendors, the ability to attract this critical mass of developers remains to be proven. Some CIOs would probably prefer the “safety” of a successful commercial vendor rather than an as-yet-unproven open source vendor. Of course, if an open source vendor does attract a large core of volunteers, then the argument comes back to who provides the best “service” – be it customer service or software-as-a-service.dmccalliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01502489960893539450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post-38479353385787771052008-07-16T18:02:00.000-07:002008-07-16T18:02:00.000-07:00The promise of open source is great, and the 50,00...The promise of open source is great, and the 50,000 foot view of OpenVista is inspiring. The low-level reality is that their technology stack is cobbled together like a Rube Goldberg contraption, from MUMPS to .NET/Mono to GTK to Java to Delphi to Cache/Fidelity GT.M (I'm citing the OpenVista brochure). Good luck finding developers outside the OpenVista team who are proficient with that stack, or even with just the MUMPS core it's all built around. The open source promise of "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow" doesn't go very far with this particular codebase. No modern developer is going to invest in MUMPS except for an opportunistic few who don't mind "technology hospice" work.Oran Dennisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18170789721507988932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post-13899282005453242762008-07-16T14:26:00.000-07:002008-07-16T14:26:00.000-07:00The irony with the "industry response" that the "c...The irony with the "industry response" that the "code is not that important but service is" is that Medsphere will offer consistently superior service than any of the other Hospital EHR vendors. <BR/><BR/>EHR vendors offer crappy service, because they can. If Medsphere ever did this, then their customers would find another vendor, but not another product....<BR/><BR/>-FTftrotterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08153748647265413845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384692836709903146.post-33189666946532706772008-07-16T11:25:00.000-07:002008-07-16T11:25:00.000-07:00This is incredible. After learning that VA's sour...This is incredible. After learning that VA's source code was readily available to anyone interested, I knew a business based on it was soon to follow. To take it into the open source market is even more exciting and true to VA's ever-improving EHR mission. <BR/><BR/>I'm always exposed to the most amazing things through your blog. Thanks for the great postings!AKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13815706019266888982noreply@blogger.com