Medsphere understands that EHR’s are essential to transforming healthcare, but we also appreciate the drawbacks – high cost, long implementation time.  The use of open source helps mitigate both of these main drawbacks – by allowing all groups involved to talk to one another, the old roadblocks are gone and integration is seamless.

There are plenty of EMR systems on the market (EPIC, Cerner, Meditech, Mckesson, Siemens, etc.). Why is Medsphere different or  unique?

The VA system was never designed with a software vendor business model in mind.  It was made to be usable and readily deployable,  much simpler in general.  Over 20 years, it has been deployed in 170 VA facilities and has been used by most residents during their VA rotations.  Its proven and now, its in open source.

Secondly, aside from the introduction of open source into the field of EHRs, Medsphere differs from others on the market in the way that it addresses payment. Rather than a prohibitive up-front cost, they use a subscription-based pricing model that allows for much easier entry into the market.  The subscription covers quality certification, support and all upgrades.

Finally because it is released in open source, it eliminates “vendor lock”  where the customer is locked to their vendor for anything and forever and “vendor fatigue” where everything you ask for costs the customer more.

Do you think patients are ready for this e-health based service?

Patients are not only ready for PHRs, they want them. They realize that there has to be a better way than the old paper and pen method.  They shake their heads when their records are not available or when they are asked over and over again the same questions about their medications, allergies.  We live in an incredibly plugged-in society that does not want to wait for the old paper and pen method to catch up. Even our presidential candidates are jumping on the bandwagon.  The key to broad adoption is that the health information should be a direct by-product of care entered by the patient and the practitioners during the process of care,  not a redundant or strictly patient driven.  Lastly, cellphones and mobile devices are a key form factor particularly in chronic disease e-health management.  Patients can be interacted with in real-time to assess their care and status.

What are your plans for the next months?

Our near-term plan is to further engage and support our customers and community in their open source projects.  We have recently released our source code under the AGPL open source license and are moving to open up more API’s.  We want to provide more opportunities for customers to meet their own needs and to support collaboration across the community.