SaffronMiner - Slashdot User

Comment Re:VA system is public domain (Score 2, Informative) 111

by SaffronMiner on Sunday December 30, 2007 @10:14AM (#21855968) Attached to: Arguing For Open Electronic Health Records

The oldest medical database systems are based on MUMPS, now called M by some, which is still used by the VA. They have
updated it to "VistA", which predated Microsoft Vista (wonder if Microsoft chose that name for a medical reason?).

VistA® / CPRS Demo Site:
http://www1.va.gov/CPRSdemo/
The code:
http://www1.va.gov/CPRSdemo/page.cfm?pg=1

http://www.innovations.va.gov/innovations/docs/InnovationsVistAFAQPublic.pdf
http://www.va.gov/VISTA_MONOGRAPH/index.asp
http://www.va.gov/vdl/ is the library.
http://www.va.gov/vdl/section.asp?secid=3 covers your Financial question.
http://www.va.gov/vdl/application.asp?appid=144
VistA Data Extraction Framework (VDEF).

http://openvista.sourceforge.net/
"OpenVista is the open-source version of VistA, which is an enterprise grade health care information system developed by the
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and deployed at nearly 1,500 facilities worldwide."

1,500 is not all that many considering the market.

Intersystem's Cache' http://www.intersystems.com/cache/ is the contemporary equivlent to MUMPS, a database that claims it can
run rings around things like MySQL in the number of transactions per second.

There are a number of Open Source Medical Databases,they are summarized here:

http://www.linux.com/base/ldp/howto/Medicine-HOWTO/record.html

My very first job was writing medical software, this is when few people even knew what computers were in 1977. Still have my DEC
MUMPS badge that I got at the very first MUMPS conference in DC. Have always felt I should get back into that field. To bad
Dr. Armor and I didn't patent what we were doing then. The pharmacists called up the office in disbelieve asking if these
computer printed prescriptions were real, because *THEY COULD READ THEM*.

The other side:

"VA DATA AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS:
1. FY07 Year-End Med SAS and DSS CNDE Files Available
The fiscal year 2007 (FY07) year-end Medical SAS (Med SAS)
Inpatient and Outpatient files are now available."
http://www.virec.research.va.gov/References/DataIssuesBrief/2007/DIB-0712er.pdf

Requesting Access to VA Data:
http://www.virec.research.va.gov/Support/Training-NewUsersToolkit/ACRSrequest.htm

"Click this button for information, guidance, and FAQs relating to the VA Research Data Security and Privacy initiative."
http://www.research.va.gov/resources/data-security

Submission + - WiFi Biologically Exposure Limits? (obscureresearch.net)

Submitted by

SaffronMiner

on Monday December 10, 2007 @11:02PM

SaffronMiner writes: "Dr. Nick Begich has released a public letter to introduce everyone to Cindy Sage's work at BioInitiatives, on how exposure to things like Cell Phones, and WiFi, are affecting our health.

From page 24 and page 587:

Although this RF target level does not preclude further rollout of WiFi technologies, we also recommend that wired alternatives to WiFi be implemented, particularly in schools and libraries so that children are not subjected to elevated RF levels until more is understood about possible health impacts.
"

Submission + - Enforcing Insurance Health Incentives

Submitted by

SaffronMiner

on Monday December 10, 2007 @10:43PM

SaffronMiner writes: "Employers and Insurance companies are talking of "incentives" to keep premiums low, by punishing those that do not have good health habits. 'They' now have the tool to enforce the monitoring. Do you want an Ankle Bracelet from your Insurance Company?

Using 2.4 GHz RF to monitor good health habits is counterproductive if the monitor itself adversely affects your health.

—
Nordic Semiconductor — News December 6th, 2007
—

NEWS FROM NORDIC SEMICONDUCTOR

Combating the obesity crisis: US healthcare and wellness program providers to offer reward incentives to individuals achieving recommended daily activity levels measured using 2.4GHz wireless networking technology.

Comprised of wearable, coin-cell powered ultra-low power (ULP) wireless sensors based on Nordic Semiconductor 2.4GHz transceivers, the ActiHealth BodyLAN monitoring system from FitSense provides guidance and timely motivational feedback to start and maintain active and healthy lifestyles. Accuracy and reliability in field trials has persuaded leading US healthcare and wellness providers(1) to offer reward incentives for policy-holders that achieve recommended daily activity levels as measured by ActiHealth — as it reduces healthcare costs(2)

For more information, please goto: Nordic Semiconductor — News.

Nordic Semiconductor"

Submission + - National ID to use Texas Instruments RF360? (obscureresearch.net)

Submitted by

SaffronMiner

on Monday December 10, 2007 @09:56PM

SaffronMiner writes: "The Texas Instruments RF360 has been announced for use in National ID cards , and Extended Access Control (EAC) requirements developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) .

"RF360 smart integrated circuit platform for the government identification market The Texas Instruments RF360 is the first contactless smart integrated circuit (IC) platform developed specifically to meet the rigorous demands of the government electronic identification market. It integrates TI's ultra-low power MSP430 microcontroller, advanced embedded Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FRAM) and high-performance RF Analog Front-End (AFE) technologies. Leveraging a low power architecture and enhanced write capability, the RF360 smart IC platform provides fast chip transaction speeds enabling governments to quickly and efficiently produce a multitude of passive electronic identification (ID) such as electronic passports (e-passports) and national ID cards . (See http://www.ti.com/govid .)"

...

"Answering the Security Call

The RF360 platform provides both the memory and processing power to accommodate current and future security and encryption requirements, such as Basic Access Control (BAC) and Extended Access Control (EAC) requirements developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) . It integrates advanced security countermeasures and is designed to meet the stringent requirements of the Common Criteria EAL5+ security certification per the BSI (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik) Smartcard protection profile (BSI-PPP-0002). The RF360 platform features innovative, fast hardware co-processors on chip which support both public key cryptography (RSA, Elliptic Curve) and symmetric key cryptography (DES/Triple DES, AES). The RF360 architecture supports both contactless (ISO/IEC 14443 air interface protocol) and contact (ISO/IEC 7816 smart card interface protocol) communication."

"

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