The week after I got my first job implementing EHR, I went into the medical records office where I was shown an article about the government’s decision to open source the Vista EHR software. The HIM manager was drawn by the idea of a free EHR. Of course, the clinic I was working for had already invested hundreds of thousands of dollars on an EHR system. In fact, this is likely what made the HIM manager so interested in the idea of a free EHR. She didn’t know why we’d spent hundreds of thousands of dollars when the government was offering an EHR for free.
What she didn’t understand was that just because the software is free doesn’t mean that the EHR is free. Plus, she (and I at the time) had little understanding of what the Vista EHR software really encompasses. Implementing Vista in that small clinic would have been like taking a sledgehammer to a 2 penny nail. In fact, that might even be underestimating the breadth of what could be done with Vista.
Of course, if we had been in the hospital environment, then we should have definitely considered Vista. However, back then there were a lot of unknowns with how Vista would transition to open source and how it would work in a commercial healthcare environment. 8+ years later, the companies working with the open source EHR is much more mature.
One of the leaders when it comes to implementing Vista in hospitals is a company called Medsphere. Medsphere’s version of Vista is called OpenVista. What’s amazing is the stark contrast in costs between an open source EHR versus many of the proprietary alternatives. No doubt Medsphere and others are benefiting from the billions of dollars the VA spent developing Vista.
For those of you not familiar with Medsphere and OpenVista, check out this whitepaper summary of OpenVista. It’s a really great summary of the capabilities of the software and what Medsphere has done to improve on the Vista software.
I’m sure there are still many hospital CIOs that aren’t brave enough to choose an open source EHR when “know one gets fired for buying Epic.” Although, I think it’s a big mistake when hospital CIOs don’t even consider the open source EHR options. When you see the breadth and depth of what’s available in Vista, it’s definitely worth considering.
Plus, since it’s open source, you can still develop custom additions to the software without worrying whether your EHR vendor will let you create a deep connection to the EHR software. I see an open source EHR software as a great option for those hospitals that are use to developing custom applications in house, but also see how a commercial vendor has expertise that they don’t have in house.
What are your thoughts on Vista as a hospital EHR?
