Comments on: OSCAR Reflections http://virtuallypriceless.org/blog/2008/11/oscar-reflections/ Reflections on Health, Informatics, and Research Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:30:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: priceless http://virtuallypriceless.org/blog/2008/11/oscar-reflections/comment-page-1/#comment-233 priceless Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:53:22 +0000 http://virtuallypriceless.org/blog/2008/11/oscar-reflections/#comment-233 thanks for the comment Yes - they have courageously stepped out and pushed forward. The BC users in particular have made great strides since the last time I was involved with them. OSCAR has done a lot, despite the torpedos (and I know I accidentally volleyed a few in the past when sorting out their license) and I hope they move forward towards your principles. It would be very exciting if the design community could be rallied in the same way as the user community. thanks for the comment

Yes – they have courageously stepped out and pushed forward. The BC users in particular have made great strides since the last time I was involved with them.

OSCAR has done a lot, despite the torpedos (and I know I accidentally volleyed a few in the past when sorting out their license) and I hope they move forward towards your principles. It would be very exciting if the design community could be rallied in the same way as the user community.

]]> By: mcglen http://virtuallypriceless.org/blog/2008/11/oscar-reflections/comment-page-1/#comment-232 mcglen Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:15:22 +0000 http://virtuallypriceless.org/blog/2008/11/oscar-reflections/#comment-232 Interesting observations. Here is one of mine: the people with the expertise to build a useful,open EMR that could potentially form a structured backbone for research across Canada. . . these people are too busy with other pursuits (PhDs, jobs, life, etc). And if they did have time, who is to say that they would have the courage? In my opinion OSCAR has the courage. It was founded by doers. It started on the principle that something is better than nothing, so let's build something ... even if it isn't perfect. For this I commend the group. They've hung in there for several years now as the only game in Canada for an open source EMR. The support from the community continues to grow. They understand the software is not without limitations (as VP described) but want to continue to its improvement. However, I firmly believe there are a set of principles that should exist at the very foundation of a clinical information system. These should be present in an open EMR for a research backbone. Can they be retrofitted into an existing product or does this mean a re-write? I don't know. In any case OSCAR is a great community start moving this idea forward . . . damn the torpedoes! Interesting observations. Here is one of mine: the people with the expertise to build a useful,open EMR that could potentially form a structured backbone for research across Canada. . . these people are too busy with other pursuits (PhDs, jobs, life, etc). And if they did have time, who is to say that they would have the courage?

In my opinion OSCAR has the courage. It was founded by doers. It started on the principle that something is better than nothing, so let’s build something … even if it isn’t perfect. For this I commend the group. They’ve hung in there for several years now as the only game in Canada for an open source EMR. The support from the community continues to grow. They understand the software is not without limitations (as VP described) but want to continue to its improvement.

However, I firmly believe there are a set of principles that should exist at the very foundation of a clinical information system. These should be present in an open EMR for a research backbone. Can they be retrofitted into an existing product or does this mean a re-write? I don’t know. In any case OSCAR is a great community start moving this idea forward . . . damn the torpedoes!

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