13th VistA Community Meeting

13thWorldVistA
Community Meeting. Thursday June 29 through Sunday July 2
2006.
Robert Morris University Pittsburgh, USA

“Building Sustainable, Global,
Collaborative Development of VistA”

Conference FAQ

Conference
Outline

Sewall Conference Center Robert
Morris University, Moon Township Campus, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
United States.

WorldVistA would like to thank Robert Morris University for
supporting the VistA community by sponsoring this meeting.

The theme for the meeting is:Building Sustainable, Global, Collaborative Development of VistA

The meeting aims to address
the issues of:

  1. Community and Business Development: how do we grow the community of WorldVistA
    EHR adopters and developers. Topics will include the
    organizational and governance framework, funding, education and
    training, capacity building, technology transfer, Open Source
    licensing and business models.
  2. SoftwareDevelopment: how do we coordinate an open source development on this
    scale. Topics will include the technical and quality management
    framework for managing the software lifecycle, preventing code
    forking, software licensing, current and planned developments, VistA
    interoperability (with other systems), VistA and Health informatics
    standards, and the evolution of VistA architecture & technology.

These
topics will be explored in plenary sessions and from the perspective
of End Users, Software Developers, Vendors and Educationalists.

The meeting also
includes an optional one day MUMPS training course, tutorials and
VistA demonstrations during the course of the meeting, and will
provide the opportunity to load VistA onto personal computers.

Attendance
at this meeting is expected to be high and so we are departing
somewhat from the traditional very informal structure of Community
meetings, while retaining the essential open and friendly
nature of the event

Registration Fees

The registration fee for the four days of the meeting will be as
follows

  • WorldVistA paid members: $100

  • 1-Day only $60

  • 2-Days only $120

  • 3-Days only $180

  • Observer: $300

This includes refreshments and a buffet lunch on each day. It does
not include accommodation, or the short course offered on Wednesday
28th June.

To qualify for the member’s rate, if you are already a member of
WorldVistA you will need to renew your annual subscription, or if you
are not already a member then join.

Short
Courses

A one day introduction to MUMPS is being offered on Wednesday
28th, the day before the conference, running in parallel
with the Adopters meeting (see Programme) The cost of this will be
$200 which will include refreshments and a buffet lunch. REGISTER BY JUNE 18th.

This one day course is intended to give an overview of the M
programming language for those already familiar with other languages.
M is a versatile procedure-oriented language, integrated with a
self-contained database system and is portable across many hardware
platforms. These features combined with its powerful string handling
capabilities makes it an ideal tool for the development of EHR systems
and it remains the language of choice among VistA developers.

While it is unreasonable to expect to learn an entire computer language
in one day of training, the goal of this course is to give students a
brief overview of the major features and syntax contained within the
language. Some of the major commands, functions and operators will be
discussed. Each element of the language that is presented will be
reviewed in examples. In addition to the basic syntax, important
concepts such as portability and maintainability will be discussed as
they apply to this language. After taking this course the students are
encouraged to continue their education in M. Training materials will be
provided.

Accommodation

There will be a conference rate available until June 13th, at the nearby Doubletree Pittsburgh
Airport hotel, 8402 University Blvd., Moon Township,
Pennsylvania,United States 15108; Tel: +1-412-329-1400 Fax:
+1-412-329-1410 of $92 per day for a single/double room. People are
responsible for making their own bookings and payment.

Travel

The Moon Township Campus is a 10 minute ride from Pittsburgh
International Airport. A shuttle bus will be provided by the
Doubletree Hotel to/from the airport and to/from the RMU campus.

PROVISIONAL PROGRAM

Please note that this program is subject to
change up to (and even after!) the start of the meeting. If you have
any comments or suggestions please address these to K.S. Bhaskar (ks
dot bhaskar at bhaskars dot com).

The
meeting will be preceded on Wednesday June 28 by a Training Day.

Day 1:
Wednesday June 28: Pre-Conference VistA Course

9:00

Registration, Room 2: Training

9:30

Introduction to MUMPS programming

10:30

Introduction to MUMPS programming

11:00

Refreshment break (provided)

11.30

Introduction to MUMPS programming

13:00

Buffet lunch (provided)

14:00

Introduction to MUMPS programming

15:30

Refreshment break (provided)

16:00

Introduction to MUMPS programming

17:00

End of day 1

Day 2: Thursday June 29: first day of main meeting

The meeting is structured into more structured plenary sessions
interspersed with less structured opportunities for Special Interest
Groups (SIGs) to meet. While recognizing that many in the VistA
community have multiple interests, the SIGs are broadly classified
as Adopters (healthcare institutions using VistA), Developers
(individuals and organizations creating and modifying VistA
technology), Implementers (individuals and organizations deploying
and supporting VistA for other organizations) and Education &
Training. There is a room reserved for use by each SIG.

A tradition at VistA Community Meetings is that all those who
attend will have the opportunity to have VistA (and optionally
GNU/Linux) installed on their PCs at the meeting. Prior to, or at
the meeting, please contact K.S. Bhaskar (ks dot bhaskar at bhaskars
dot com) or Nancy Anthracite (nanthracite at verizon dot net) if you
would like to have VistA installed on your PC.

0830

Registration

0900

Plenary 1, Room 1: Opening session. Chair: Maury
Pepper, M-Technology & WorldVistA

  • Announcements, meeting objectives & overview:
    Chair

  • Welcoming address: Gregory G. Dell’Omo, PhD.
    President, Robert Morris University

  • VistA Demonstration: Kay Craddock, US Department of
    Veterans Affairs

1030

Refreshment break (provided)

1100

Significant work at VistA Community Meetings happens in
self-organizing working groups. The tradition is for each
participant to briefly introduce himself/herself and say what
his/her objectives are for the meeting. These objectives are
recorded, and based on group interest, tracks or Special Interest
Groups (SIGs) are formed. Each SIG appoints leaders from among
its members. The leaders frequently report their activities to
the entire meeting in plenary sessions. If the attendance of the
meeting is small, we will follow the traditional model. If,
however, the number of attendees is large, then the introductions
will happen within SIGs determined in advance by the WorldVistA
conference organizers rather than happening in a plenary session

Room 1: Adopters

  • Introductions

  • Appoint leader

  • Review agenda

Room 2: Developers

  • Introductions

  • Appoint leader

  • Review agenda

Room 3: Implementers

  • Introductions

  • Appoint leader

  • Review Agenda

Room 4: Education & Training

  • Introductions

  • Appoint leader

  • Review agenda

1200

Plenary 2, Room 1: VistA Implementations. Chair:
Peter Groen, Shepherd University & WorldVistA. (The
plenary session will take place in two parts, separated by
lunch.)

  • Summary from VistA adopters meeting lessons
    learned and issues arising: Colin Smith, WorldVistA

  • Short presentations (5-10 minutes) by adopters on
    each VistA implementation Marcus Werners, Deutsches
    Herzzentrum, Berlin; Gabriel Rivera Garibay & Christian
    Alexis Diez Ocaa, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social,
    Mexico City; Dr. Omar el Hattab, National Cancer Institute &
    Nasser Institute Hospital, Cairo; David G. Whiles, Midland
    Memorial Hospital, Midland, TX; Dr. Kevin Toppenberg, Medical
    Group of Greeneville, Greeneville, TN; Dr. John Leo Zimmer,
    Council Bluffs Community Health Center, Council Bluffs, IA

  • Q&A with panel of VistA adopters

1300

Lunch (provided)

1400

Plenary 3, Room 1: VistA Implementations, continued

1530

Refreshment break (provided)

1600

Room 1: Adopters

Room 2: Developers

Robustness, Security, Continuity of Business: Cach /
Windows by David Hackett, InterSystems; GT.M / Linux by
K.S. Bhaskar, Fidelity Information Services & WorldVistA;
Internal to VistA by David Whitten, VA Medical Center,
Houston & WorldVistA

Room 3: Implementers

Room 4: Education & Training

Curricula & opportunities for education &
certification in MUMPS and VistA: discussion led by Valerie
Harvey, Robert Morris University; Peter Groen

1700

Plenary, Room 1: Report from parallel sessions.

1730

End of day 2, Meeting Organizers Debrief

1900

Dinner (on your own)

2000

Evening meetings:

  1. MUMPS language development working group (room 2)

  2. As required (rooms 1,3,4)

Day 3: Friday June 30

0900

Plenary 4: Building a
sustainable VistA Open Source development. Presentation
and discussion led by Rick Marshall and David Whitten

  • Opening Remarks. David Jamison, Dean, School of
    Communications and Information Technology, Robert Morris
    University

  • Scaling the VA software development and release
    process globally

  • VistA technical development standards: maintaining
    code, data & architectural integrity

  • Re-integrating versions of VistA into a single code
    source

1030

Refreshment break (provided)

1100

Room 1: Adopters

Differences between Hui OpenVista 4 and VistA implementation
in American Samoa Norman Dodd, Bluecliff, Inc.

Room 2: Developers

Stone / Stonecutter Chris Richardson, VA Office of
Information, Oakland; Richardson Computer Research &
WorldVistA

Non medical applications of VistA/Fileman Tom Ackerman, M
Systems Plus

Room 3: Implementers

Report on VistA Software Alliance VistA Leadership Conference:
Peter Groen

Room 4: Education & Training

Voice over IP and Free / Open Source Software at Robert Morris
University and at the VistA Community Meeting: Randy Johnson,
Robert Morris University

1230

Room 1: Report from parallel sessions.

1300

Lunch (provided)

1400

Plenary 5: Building a sustainable WorldVistA Community.
Chair: Maury Pepper

  • WorldVistA: origins, vision, achievements and
    challenges: K.S. Bhaskar

  • WorldVistA organization and governance: Colin Smith

  • International capacity building and technology
    transfer: Joseph Dal Molin, e-cology Ltd & WorldVistA

  • The role of education and training: Valerie Harvey

1530

Refreshment break (provided)

1600

Room 1: Adopters

Architecture for VistA implementation at IMSS institutions:
Alexis Diez

Room 2: Developers

Interfacing VistA to other systems practice management,
billing, scheduling, etc. Discussion led by Fred Trotter,
Kevin Toppenberg, Chris Richardson

Interfacing VistA to laboratory & medical equipment.
Presentation & discussion led by Bill Ackerman, Dept. of
Veterans Affairs & M Systems Plus

Room 3: Implementers

Principles of FLOSS (Free / Libr and Open Source
Software) Licensing and Public Domain: Raymond Anthracite

Why healthcare needs a collaborative Open Source VistA
development: Joseph Dal Molin

Building Business around FLOSS and Public Domain Software:
Fred Trotter, SynSeer

Room 4: Education & Training

Tutorial: Overview of VistA capabilities: David Whitten

1700

Room 1: Reporting from parallel sessions

1730

End of day 3, Meeting Organizers Debrief

1900

Dinner (on your own)

2000

Evening meetings:

  • MUMPS Language Development Working Group

  • Community Development Working Group

  • Membership Development Working Group

  • Education and Training Working Group

Day 4: Saturday July 1

0900

Plenary 6, Room 1: The VistA Office EHR Project.
Presentation and discussion led by Joseph Dal Molin

  • Report on project progress, plans and issues

  • Open Discussion

1030

Refreshment break (provided)

1100

Room 1: Adopters

VistA advocacy for better Health Information Technology:
Presentation & discussion: led by Peter Groen

Room 2: Developers

M2Web: Presentation and discussion led by David Whitten

Room 3: Implementers

Room 4: Education & Training

VistA Programming (including Delphi): Kevin Toppenberg

1230

Room 1: Reporting from parallel sessions

1300

Lunch (provided)

1400

Plenary 7, Room 1: VistA Developments. Chair:
Joseph Dal Molin

  • Overview of current & planned developments. Chris
    Richardson, Richardson Computer Research, VAMC Martinez,
    WorldVistA. David Whitten, VAMC Houston, WorldVistA

  • Open Discussion

1530

Refreshment break (provided)

1600

Room 1: Adopters

Room 2: Developers

VistA Programming (including Delphi): Kevin Toppenberg
(continued)

Room 3: Implementers

Patching VistA: Rick Marshall

Room 4: Education & Training

VistA demonstration (2) [more opportunity for Q&A in a
smaller group]. Kay Craddock, Dept, of Veterans Affairs

1700

Room 1: Reporting from parallel sessions

1730

End day 4, Meeting Organizers Debrief

1900

Dinner (on your own)

2000

Evening meetings as required

Day 5: Sunday July 2

0900

Plenary, Room 8: Vista Architecture Past Present and
Future. Chair: KS Bhaskar

  • Video presentation. Cameron Schlehuber, VHA

  • Discussion. led by Rick Marshall

1030

Refreshment break (provided)

1100

Room 1: Adopters

Room 2: Developers

EsiObjects presentation & discussion Nancy
Anthracite & Terry Wiechmann

Room 3: Implementers

Room 4: Education & Training

1200

Plenary 9, Room 1: Conference closing session. Chair:
KS Bhaskar

  • Reports by SIG leaders

  • Discussion feedback from attendees, future conference
    needs

1300

Meeting closed, lunch (provided)

1400

Meeting organizers debrief

Date last updated:
June 29, 2006