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Questions arise over availability and cost of VistA-Office

EHR Connection, September 26, 2005

Flip-flopping reports of CMS' free electronic health records application for physicians are hard to keep up with. The New York Times reported that the system would be offered free to physicians; other reports say it is not entirely free.

Although physicians will not have to pay to download the VistA-Office software when it is released, not all components of the system are free, according to HHS. For example, the CACHE database software at the heart of the system must be licensed from InterSystems, reports HHS. According to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, the software is nearly ready for rollout; however, Government Health IT reported last week that an HHS official said the release of the software has been delayed indefinitely.

However, McClellan reportedly told attendees during a healthcare IT conference in Washington, DC, earlier this month that the software is "very close" to rollout. The software was scheduled for release in July. Demand for the product could be minimal, as studies show that 41.8% of all practices surveyed reported having no immediate plans for implementing EHRs.

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