VistA

VistA (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) is the most comprehensive Medical Software System in the world. It is quite massive, and this itself is the problem. It is quite a task to deploy and it is not user friendly at all. It uses M or MUMPS programming language, not something that is heard of in modern times. To find a programmer for this language will be quite a task, and as a result that person will be very expensive to work with!

However if the government is trying to deploy a country-wide system, this is the best bet. In that case, they could hire programmers for the inital setting up. On the other hand, it is so comprehensive that it could be just used as it is without the need of a programmer.

The development of a FOSS derivative through WorldVista, using GT.M a modernized version of M that is used widely in many organizations particularly in the US, combined with OpenVistA has promoted an interest in it around the world. The GUI front-end to it is windows based, and to run it in linux, Wine was used with some success. But some functions do not work and others do not work very well. To solve this problem, CodeWeavers have come forward to port the CPRS (Computerized Patient Record System) component of VistA, a free electronic health records software application developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, for use on Linux.

"CodeWeavers' version of the VistA CPRS (Computerized Patient Record System) graphical user interface will be promoted by WorldVistA to non-profits as well as healthcare providers in developing nations around the world. The goal of the two organizations is to increase the viability of implementing VistA, thereby giving providers the same capabilities in records management enjoyed by their better-funded counterparts in the industrialized West."
http://www.linuxelectrons.com/article.php/2006022013533346

However there is far to go, as some of the applications working on VistA are not free. However once Open Sourced, things can grow pretty fast as we all know!

Learning VistA maybe worthwhile. The governnments of most developing countries will benefit greatly by going with this and more than that, M via GT.M, will ride again!

Anyone for M Programming?