[Info-vax] New RoadMap out for VMS

[Kenneth Fairfield]

On Wednesday, October 5, 2011 1:17:40 PM UTC-7, seasoned_geek wrote:
> On Oct 4, 4:11 pm, VAXman-  @SendSpamHere.ORG wrote:
> > In article <15768392.2018.1317744013385.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums at prfh23>, Kenneth Fairfield <ken.fa... at gmail.com> writes:
[...]
> > >Folks with home-grown software are going to be at an
> > >increasing disadvantage as provisions of the Affordable
> > >Healthcare Act kick in, particularly, Meaningful Use.
> >
> > It's going to be shot down by the SCOTUS or it should.  I've not seen any
> > benefit whatsoever from this.  In fat, my "life sustaining" prescriptions
> > are costing me more than they did just a year ago.  
> >
> > Thank you not Mr. Obama.
> > --
> > VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker    VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG
> >
> > All your spirit rack abuses, come to haunt you back by day.
> > All your Byzantine excuses, given time, given you away.
> 
> 
> Read the entire story before slamming Mr. O. on the healthcare bill.
> I was born a Republican and will give up my gun when they pry my cold
> dead fingers from it, but, it was bribes paid to the Republican party
> by the drug companies which BLOCKED Medicare from being able to
> negotiate drug prices with manufacturers.  Blue Cross and Blue Shield
> pays less for each drug and procedure than Medicare does even though
> Medicare is a much larger insurer.

While I didn't reply to Brian, I happen to completely 
agree with Roland's points.  

I didn't reply because I didn't want this thread to 
devolve into a political pissing match. :-(  I merely 
wanted to state the facts as seen from a vantage point 
within a moderately large non-profit hospital system in 
the Pacific northwest.

What most here probably don't appreciate is that health
care is one of the last industries to computerize (for 
lack of a better term) data, i.e., patient data.  Getting
doctors and nurses to "chart" in a computer application,
rather than on paper, is a huge change.  Same goes for
ordering prescriptions and procedures, etc., etc. 

The benefit of the electronic health record (EHR) is that
essentially all providers will have access to the same
patient record.  This reduces (drastically in some cases)
the duplication of tests, increases communication between
the patients various providers hopefully stimulating a
collaborative approach, and allows a variety of automated 
safety checks that increase patient safety.

I've already wandered a bit too far off topic, so if anyone 
happens to be interested in a few more of the details of
what hospital systems are doing and the major changes they
face, drop me a note.

But back on topic, aside from the VA (I'd forgotten that,
thanks Roland), VMS has no future in this EHR arena, at 
least not with the two biggest vendors in the field (nor, 
as I said before, with small players who deploy on Wintel).

    -Ken