WTF? Why isn't the Alberta Module done yet?

GOOD NEWS!!!!! - OSCAR FINALLY HAS SOME CONCRETE PROGRESSION!

I know what you are all thinking......

"WTF? - where is the Alberta Module and why has it taken so long?"

Here is the explanation and FINALLY - some hope!

It turns out that Programmers don't have a professional society. As such, they are not compelled to always act professionally. It is easy to forget that as Physicians, where we work in a profession that is self regulated to the highest standards of any profession. And we tend to take that for granted. I suppose I never really appreciate that until I became dependent upon programmers to get this project going. Maybe some day, there will be a Professional Society of programmers - but until then, it is more difficult than you might imagine to find a programmer with a professional level of conduct.

Like any field, there are good eggs and there are bad eggs.

It would seem that with programmers, I had managed to find more of the former than the latter.

The last programmer that we had working on this project stated personal problems - and for that reason, she simply stopped working on the project. Her work was contracted through a manager who brokered her work on the project. He apparently never bothered to pay her, despite his having being paid......it turned out to be quite a soap opera that resulted in little more than frustration and additional delays.

Thankfully, the programmer that quit on the project - ended up at least making good on her obligations during her exit, and had documented her code well enough that she was able to communicate to the next programmers.

NOW - we have two OSCAR Provider services and three full time programmers that are intimately familiar with OSCAR - working on the Alberta Billing and Lab Module. This is a MUCH better way to get this sort of project done - and it will FINALLY get this project completed, probably by late spring at the latest.

We still need about $15,000 for programming costs. We are hoping to raise this by having new OSCAR users in Alberta contribute about $2000 (though any amount would be welcome) in exchange for a very cheap rate on a professional OSCAR installation.

This is really a great deal - you get OSCAR installed by real pro's - which means that it will be PROPERLY installed (very important). Then you get the billing/lab module installed when it is ready to go. The module will have a private billing module as well so that you can keep track of non-insured billings, etc.

If you want OSCAR - just let me know and I'll get you in touch to get this process going for you! You won't be sorry!

Contact me at:

drjohnf@me.com

I look forward to hearing from you!

The current status - my server DIED!!!!!

I got a call at 05:00 on Sunday morning....not all THAT unusual with my practice....but still not fun. It was the security guy from my office. Apparently, a "bad surge" hit my office and the power was out. I headed over there to try to see how my status was....and my server DIED.

My APS was also fried - and it did NOTHING to save my server! My backup server was okay, but was not operating quite properly....so the NERD BC guys were "on the job" immediately.

I have to say - these NERD BC guys are truly amazing when it comes to availability and when it comes to solving weird problems. They're going to go far. I'm very happy to be working with this brilliant and forward thinking team of two young men.

My offsite backup was thankfully just fine, and so they they uploaded the backup to my backup server while I get the primary server fixed.

They installed the 64 bit version of Ubuntu first...followed by OSCAR 10.06 - and I am IMPRESSED with how much better and faster this is! I'm installing more RAM tomorrow - just bought 4 more Mb RAM for each server, so I'll have a total of 8 Mb per server now. Apparently, I'll have even more performance once I get this going (on top of my 32 Gb SSD Hard drives).

I'm going to install a new APS on each server - and THIS time, I'll set them up properly with a USB data controller to turn off the servers if they are about to fail (and email me with a status).

The billing/lab module is about 70% complete now. Things will go faster now, as the Programmer (very talented) has brought her knowledge of the project up to snuff and is now basically coding on it full time. I think that a more realistic timeline for testing the finished product prior to deployment will be the 3rd week or so of November.

Where are we? HERE WE ARE! Final Strech

We are starting to receive some pledges for helping to fund the last 100 or so hours of programming for the Alberta Billing and Lab module. This is becoming a life saver, because it is not cheap, and even OSCAR programmers need to eat more than just Ichiban.

The programmer, I am told, has not been coming up much for air lately - and she is a very talented (and I'm told good-looking) programmer. I hope to meet her one day (not because of her looks - I'm married to a devastatingly beautiful woman already).

More Physicians are contacting me about OSCAR and there seems to be a lot of genuine interest in OSCAR in Alberta. Within just 2-4 weeks, we should have finally an Alberta Billing and Lab module for OSCAR.

I have recently installed Netcare in my office. This is a wonderful thing that has made a real positive difference to patient care - and it saves me hours per week.

I'm normally happy to enthusiastically criticize the Provincial Government.....but I have to grudgingly agree - NETCARE IS BRILLIANT. Whoever was responsible for coming up with the idea, will probably save countless numbers of lives, countless suffering and countless Health Care Dollars. Whoever you are: Thank-you.

We will attempt to also build a Netcare connection to OSCAR, as this is a logical next step.

Many have asked me why I am not pursuing VCUR compliance to receive POSP funding from the AMA.

My answer is: what for?

POSP funding is a nightmare of paperwork that gives Physicians grey hair and high cholesterol....and the costs of OSCAR are so insignificant, that the hassle of obtaining POSP funding for it does not seem to be worth it to me. It will be interesting to see how this issue evolves....but we will perhaps go after VCUR compliance after these several things are done:

1) Alberta Billing and Lab Module Complete

2) Alberta Netcare interactivity module complete

3) OSCAR ISO certification complete (being worked on by fine folks)

4) OSCAR takes over most EMR installations in Alberta

Feel free to contact me at any time at:

Drjohnf@me.com

My Twitter is at:

@Drjohnf8

Billing/Lab module has a light at the end of the tunnel.....

Alas, we now have a light at the end of the tunnel with respect to Alberta's Billing and Lab module.

And no worries - we are keeping it totally "open source", which means that everyone will be able to have access to it.

This has been difficult and expensive. Anybody that would like to contribute funds towards this (to help alleviate the financial pressure on me) would be most welcomed! To be a wonderful, benevolent and altruistic spirit - please feel free to email me at:

drfernandes@me.com

if you'd like to be able to help me accelerate development with a little infusion of additional funding for this project.

Hopefully we'll be able to beta test by mid-October to late October. I fully intend that I will not see 2012 without a functioning Alberta billing and lab module for OSCAR.

I've started an OSCAR Alberta discussion newsgroup - much like the BC group, but it is intended for OSCAR Alberta specific concerns and discussion.

Anybody that is interested in this newsgroup is welcome to join up! There are not a lot of members yet, but perhaps more will join in time. Within the next few weeks, there will be a few clinics in Alberta that have adopted OSCAR. I hope to have these clinic members participating on this list.

To subscribe to the OSCAR ALBERTA newsgroup - please feel free to visit the following link:

https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/oscaralberta-discussions

Because things are starting to heat up on the OSCAR Alberta Front....I am going to post at least once every couple of weeks with an update as to our progress.

John Fernandes.

OSCAR-ALBERTA: failed attempt initially - but rebooting now

OSCAR-ALBERTA development has not progressed as fast as I had hoped, for many reasons.

The task was daunting, and my initial approaches did not bear fruit.

HOWEVER - I'm trying a new approach. The OSCAR-ALBERTA billing and lab modules will be all open source and available to anyone that wants it. I hope to have some real progress by September.

I will personally bear the costs of this venture - and will give it away. So anybody that has a mind to help my pay for this would be most welcome. I estimate that I'll have to collect about $10k or so (conservatively......just getting an estimate figured out now). Altruism is great - but it's hard to do it all by yourself.....but I will if I have to.

In the mean time, please feel free to subscribe to the OSCAR-Alberta list server on Sourceforge.

Please go to the following website and register for inclusion on the newsgroup server:

https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/oscaralberta-discussions

This is basically a service where subscribers have the ability to post any OSCAR-Alberta related question - and get an answer from other subscribers. The BC list is very good, and has a strong user base. The users help each other with all things OSCAR - and this is one of the many things that makes OSCAR unstoppable.

So please sign up and feel free to ask or answer as you like. No questions are too simple, and all comments and questions are most welcome!

I'd like to build a large user base for the OSCAR-ALBERTA List Server.

I remain the ongoing optimist!

JF

Billing module nearing completion within a week or so

Okay, so I've been playing with the Alberta Health Billing module in OSCAR and it looks pretty good. We are making some slick changes to it so that it integrates very well into a busy Physician's workflow.

The changes should be ready within a couple of days, and I will be testing it on a fake patient database before doing a live billing trial in my office.

Labs module is basically going to happen at the same time.

Great news for people interest in OSCAR.

I am aware that only 3 vendors are "approved" vendors for Alberta for POSP funding. I had considered making OSCAR "VCUR compliant" so that it can be qualified as a 4th vendor.

I might just go ahead and do that.....but I can't think of any reason to bother.

The paperwork and administration involved in getting POSP funding to cover a measly $250 per month for OSCAR support (including billing) is not worth the painful time and effort to get and maintain POSP funding.

I have had many inquiries from Physicians who are ready to leave POSP behind in favour of OSCAR.

We'll see how things transpire - but I think that in the long run, OSCAR will take over in Alberta and the POSP office will have to evolve to keep up with it. I would welcome a collaborative effort, but there is currently an understandable lack of interest from their end.

That will hopefully change over the next couple of years.

OSCAR via the iPad - damn! Works GREAT!

I seem to have been able to make the iPad actually useful in clinic with OSCAR.

The trick seems to be to install Printopia on any Mac in the clinic that is able to print on any printer.

Then, install text expander on the iPad & make it sync to my MobileMe account.

Clinic notes are then a breeze to enter into OSCAR with text expander, and longer notes are simply dictated into the ipad using Dragon. All specialist referrals are dictated, then copy/pasted into the consultation.....then faxed directly from the iPad to the specialist with the patient in the room! Yes, occasionally I will type a note directly or via a blu-tooth keyboard....

Prescriptions print seamlessly from the iPad to any printer I select, and I use Dropbox on the iPad to print out patient pamphlets when necessary. I often now also email them to patients from the iPad.

Uninsured services (like sick notes, etc.) are also paid for immediately using the iPad, directly into Paypal, and receipts are emailed to the patient or printed. The IPad's multitasking makes this a breeze!

The iPad with the camera will make it easy to attach photos of things to patient notes. Can't wait to get that in April!

JF

BTW: had to work during superbowl - so used the TiVo app on the iPad to schedule the recording in the USA remotely, then the sling box app to stream the recording later to the ipad while at the office doing my paperwork. Made it bearable.