Forbes recognizes Oroville Hospital
Local hospital’s open-source EHR system touted in Forbes magazine
Oroville Hospital’s decision to open-source its electronic health records (EHRs) three years ago has drawn national attention.
An article in Forbes magazine titled “Open Source Electronic Health Records: A Cost Solution for Hospitals” and published on Aug. 24 highlights Oroville Hospital CEO Robert Wentz’s decision to digitize its patient records through VistA (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture).
The hospital is in the process of completing implementation of its new software system for a total of roughly $10 million, about half the cost of using a commercial EHR system like Cerner, McKessen or Meditech, the article reports. VistA is a network of free-agent programmers who support the publicly available health record.
Open sourcing is a practice already widely used in manufacturing, finance and retail but is a relatively new development in health care.
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