Jordan trials open source healthcare systems

Jordan is to begin a trial deployment of the VistA open source clinical and healthcare information system.

The pilot will run at two hospitals and a clinic in Amman, under the guidance of E-Health Solutions, a non-profit company that has been formed to find a national healthcare system for the Kingdom.

VistA (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) was developed by the US Veteran’s Administration, and is widely credited with having enabled a massive improvement in the VA’s standard of healthcare. Today the system is in use in 157 VA health care facilities and 887 clinics in the US.

The system includes both hospital and patient management for more efficient administration, and clinical data collection, for research and tracking of healthcare issues on a national level.

The pilot deployment will be managed by US-based Perot Systems.Dr Rami Farraj, chairman of the Board of Directors of E-Health Solutions commented: “When we were looking to initiate this project, we were first and foremost looking for a company that has the resources and capabilities to handle a national rollout of this project and become our partner. Perot Systems is that company.”

The project will include an educational program around VistA’s technical and clinical processes, which will both help Jordanian authorities to completely manage the VistA solution in future, and to share expertise to help other countries in the Middle East to deploy it.

“This pilot project with the Kingdom of Jordan should enable the efficiency of the system to be maximized as well as helping to deliver improved clinical outcomes for the citizens of Jordan. We are very excited to be involved in this ground-breaking project with the Jordanians,” said Dr Kevin Fickenscher, executive vice president and managing director for Perot Systems’ International Healthcare.