CodeWeavers is porting software that physicians use to access a free electronic health records application to Linux. The company, based in St. Paul, Minn., is making it possible for the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) component of VistA (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) to run under the open-source operating system.
The port affects only the Microsoft Windows-based user interface portion of the system. The server component has run on Linux for some time, according to a CodeWeavers spokeswoman. The Veterans Affairs Department originally developed the system.
To accomplish the change, CodeWeavers is not modifying the CPRS programming code. Instead, it is using a modified version of its CrossOver Office technology, which makes it possible for Windows applications to run in a Linux environment. CrossOver Office is based on Wine, an open-source program loader.
The CPRS version is currently in beta form, according to the company spokeswoman. CodeWeavers will wait for the newest version of CPRS, expected in a few weeks, before developing a Linux-friendly product suitable for wide release, she added.
WorldVistA, a nonprofit group that aims to improve VistA, will promote the Linux-driven CPRS component to nonprofits and health care providers in developing nations.
CodeWeavers aims to create a pricing model that will enable health care organizations to acquire the CPRS-specific version of CrossOver Office at a lower cost than the standard version of CrossOver Office, the spokeswoman said.
From the battlefield to the home front: Managing medical data
Government Health IT presents Col. Claude Hines Jr., program manager for the Defense Health Information Management System, in this recent InSight eSeminar. Col. Hines discusses the health information technology and tactical challenges faced by the military medical community in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of conflict. In doing so, he describes the current information technology solutions for transferring clinical data between battlefield care givers to health care personnel at military treatment facilities worldwide.
