Ignacio Valdes Implementation Log

Ignacio Valdes, a psychiatrist in Houston TX, has been charged with implementing VistA for a chain of psychiatric facilities. He has posted his progress on the Hardhats discussion group [1]. Some of the threads are reproduced here.

The traditional method for implementing a new VistA instance has been likened to an old-fashioned barn-raising: at the appointed time the holders of "institutional memory" would gather and put the thing together. There was no written blueprint, yet at the end of the day there would be a solid, usable structure in place. The unedited discussions quoted here give a taste of the skill and wackiness of such a gathering.

In this case however, the ultimate goal is not just a new VistA instance, but also a blueprint for how to do it.

Note that this page is a work in progress; see Hardhats [2] for logs that do not appear here.

==Episode 1== Do What and Why? ==Episode 2== Multiple Sign-ons ==Episode 3== IPv4 vs. IPv6 ==Episode 4== Keane records integration/population ==Episode 5== Patient picture? ==Episode 6== (missing) ==Episode 7== iptables and other useful port commands ==Episode 8== Power outage restart ==Episode 9== Initial hospital configuration terminal session ==Episode 10== Psychiatry specific DSM Axis II-V diagnosis, precaution ordering ==Episode 11== WorldVistA configuration Utility, KIDS Patch Install

==Episode 12 How do you create a new patient?== How do you create a new patient?

==Episode 13 Ordering Configuration == Ordering Configuration

==Episode 15 Non-proprietary signature consenting of patients== Non-proprietary signature consenting of patients.

==Episode 17 KIDs Patch Install Best Practice.== KIDs Patch Install Best Practice.

==Episode 20 Location for Current Activities Dialog Box== Location for Current Activities Dialog Box

==Episode 21 Little graphics in templates?== Little graphics in templates?

==Episode 22 How to allow editing of Template Fields.== How to allow editing of Template Fields. ==Episode 24 Changing Intro Message== Changing Intro Message

==Episode 25 Demystifying Templating, Document Classes and Titles for Dummies.== Demystifying Templating, Document Classes and Titles for Dummies.

==Episode 31 'Cowboy' System Backup== 'Cowboy' System Backup ==Episode 36 Patient movement and tracking?== Patient movement and tracking? ==Episode 37 Maximum number of users already signed on to this processor == Maximum number of users already signed on to this processor

==Episode 38 Hospital Electronic Signature Policy?== Hospital Electronic Signature Policy?

==Episode 39 Patient lab reports connection== Patient lab reports connection

==Episode 45 Page number printout revisited.== Page number printout revisited.

==Episode 46 A (Very) brief Programming VistA with MUMPS page numbering example== A (Very) brief Programming VistA with MUMPS page numbering example