The Veterans Administration health care system in the United States, with over 155 hospitals and 800 clinics, represents one of the largest integrated healthcare delivery systems in the world. It relies on a single EHR system called the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA), which has been in use since 1996.(1) And its development began in 1982 with the Decentralized Hospital Computer Program (DHCP).
"The system is not an application, but rather an architecture for different modules that work together to track the records of a given patient." (8)
The VistA Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) integrates Adverse Reaction Tracking, Bed Control, Consults, Dietetics, Encounter Forms, Order Check Expert System, Inpatient Pharmacy, Laboratory, Order Entry, Outpatient Pharmacy, Problem List, Radiology/Nuclear Medicine, Registration, Scheduling, Text Integration Utilities, and Vitals.
See an expanded, alphabetical, list of typical VistA application software below.
CPRS is the Windows program (Graphical User Interface) portion of VistA that presents all relevant patient data--including medical history and conditions, problems and diagnoses, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and interventions--in a way that directly supports clinical decision making. The goal of CPRS is to deliver an environment where providers can easily and efficiently obtain all clinically relevant information and enter all clinical orders.(2)
Test drive VistA here:
After downloading and launching the program you will see a list of "demo" patients, select "One,Patient" because this example patient has numerous health issues. Also, open some of the other patient's records and experience how expansive, intuitive and easy VistA is to use.
For Medical Record Coders: the QuadraMed Encoder Product Suite is integrated into VistA/CPRS, with revenue cycle coding and billing tools. QuadraMed provides coding tools, compliance monitoring, and billing and coding edits, electronic work assignment and reporting for inpatient and outpatient encounters. (read more below this graphic)
(3)
A Community of Innovation (4)
VistA is available as open source software. The VistA software portfolio exceeds 140 applications.(5) So the program can be affordably customized and integrated into medical clinics and hospitals of any size.
TYPICAL VISTA APPLICATION SOFTWARE (7)
The following report, pulled from a VistA FOIA CD, lists typical applications that make up VISTA (that can be released into the public domain). FOIA = Freedom of Information Act.
First, don't make the mistake of thinking VistA is an all or nothing proposition. It is a very large collection of software (over 140 applications) and only a portion of it may be relevant to your needs.
Package Name =============================================== ADVERSE REACTION TRACKING ASISTS AUTHORIZATION/SUBSCRIPTION AUTO REPLENISHMENT/WARD STOCK AUTOMATED INFO COLLECTION SYS AUTOMATED LAB INSTRUMENTS AUTOMATED MED INFO EXCHANGE CAPACITY MANAGEMENT - RUM CLINICAL MONITORING SYSTEM CONSULT/REQUEST TRACKING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES CPT/HCPCS CODES D&PPM (replaced with PBM) DENTAL DIETETICS DISCHARGE SUMMARY DRG GROUPER DRUG ACCOUNTABILITY DSS EXTRACTS EEO COMPLAINT TRACKING ENGINEERING EVENT CAPTURE FEE BASIS GEN. MED. REC. - GENERATOR GEN. MED. REC. - I/O GEN. MED. REC. - VITALS HEALTH LEVEL SEVEN HEALTH SUMMARY HINQ HOSPITAL BASED HOME CARE INCIDENT REPORTING INPATIENT MEDICATIONS INTEGRATED BILLING INTEGRATED PATIENT FUNDS INTERIM MANAGEMENT SUPPORT KERNEL LAB SERVICE LEXICON UTILITY LIBRARY LIST MANAGER MAILMAN MEDICINE MENTAL HEALTH MINIMAL PATIENT DATASET MISSING PATIENT REGISTER MSM CAPACITY MANAGEMENT NATIONAL DRUG FILE NATIONAL LABORATORY TEST NETWORK HEALTH EXCHANGE NURSING SERVICE OCCURRENCE SCREEN ONCOLOGY ORDER ENTRY/RESULTS REPORTING OUTPATIENT PHARMACY PATIENT FEEDBACK PATIENT REPRESENTATIVE PCE PATIENT CARE ENCOUNTER PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGEMENT PHARMACY DATA MANAGEMENT PHARMACY PRESCRIPTION PRACTICE POLICE & SECURITY PROBLEM LIST PROGRESS NOTES PROSTHETICS QUALITY ASSURANCE INTEGRATION QUALITY IMPROVEMENT CHECKLIST QUASAR RADIOLOGY/NUCLEAR MEDICINE RECORD TRACKING REGISTRATION RPC BROKER SAGG PROJECT SCHEDULING SOCIAL WORK SPINAL CORD DYSFUNCTION SURGERY SURVEY GENERATOR TEXT INTEGRATION UTILITIES TOOLKIT UTILIZATION MGMT ROLLUP LOCAL VA FILEMAN VISIT TRACKING VISUAL IMPAIRMENT SERVICE TEAM VOLUNTARY TIMEKEEPING WOMEN'S HEALTH
1.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_health_record2. Text from the CPRS Help file.
3. "HP and Vista" by Claudine Beron
http://worldvista.sourceforge.net/meetings/2004-06-seattle/HP_and_VistA_-_FINAL.pdf
4. "Open Sesame" by Cheryl McEvoy for ADVANCE magazine
http://health-information.advanceweb.com/Editorial/Content/Editorial.aspx?CTIID=48
5. "Designing Real World EHR Systems" by Kenneth Rubin
http://gunston.gmu.edu/709/Presentations/Rubin.ppt#301,1,Designing Real-World Electronic Health Record Systems
6. A brief history of VistA
http://www.va.gov/vista_monograph/
7. VistA Applications
http://www.hardhats.org/apps/APPSmain.html
8. "Open Source as a Healthcare Solution" by Brian Proffitt
http://ldn.linuxfoundation.org/blog-entry/open-source-a-healthcare-solution
This email was organized and sent by:
Mark Flynn (CLICK HERE
to ask Mark a question)
Grants Pass, Oregon