What about the database that the VA hospitals ran all those years openVista now).
It is based on the Mumps language (MUMPS is now called M). Its database management system, also based on M, is robust, reliable and highly specialized for the storage of health records. There are no doubts about that. But Vista is old and was born as proprietary software. And that shows. Even after VA open sourced it, they were not able to find people with the time and patience to learn old proprietary paradigms and aramaic-like languages, i.e., languages that nobody speaks anymore.
Some of the commercial vendors here are using very 'tired' databases.
That is true. That helps to keep their customers tied in. That way they hospitals don't even dare to dispense with that vendor, because nobody else is using that DBMS anymore.
Perhaps you could just point me in the direction of some unbiased review outlining the shortcomings of MySQL (if such as review exists).
Sure. And at the same time I will point you to some unbiased review of the micro$soft office suite... You should know better. MS and MySQL have the resources to "prove" you that they are better. Opponents to them do not have the resources or do not bother, or if they bother they do not have the time or resources to do so. And I will not say that opponents are just worried to produce good software.
See it this way, go ask Oracle or IBM DB2 if their DBMS is better than MySQL as hospital/mission critical DBMS. Ask them a comparative. They will gladly hand it to you. Will they be biased? You bet.
But they have the resources to analyze MySQL and show you its weakest points. You will be amazed.
Did you knew that MySQL were nothing more than a pseudo-SQL (it is not even minimally SQL92 compliant) language module kludged over an old Berkeley DB kernel code? If they were willing to pay Sleepycat (Berkeley DB) for one of the new kernels (transactional or high availability kernels) we would have instant reliable MySQL; use it and release MySQL under an exclusive open source model we would have a instant excellent MySQL. But that would not let MySQL double license MySQL DBMS and make good money with other people's work, would it?
Doesn't that seem a lot like micro$oft? But at least MS invests in user ease-of-use...
So far I only have the paper-based forms that are used in one of the provinces; I'm waiting for some specs that have already been developed.
Don't wait, get proper authorization from your employer and send what you have. Let other people start working at the solution of your problem.
I will post today an email titled: "Implementing a HIS in a third world country: the South African disaster"
I will include a pointer to an article from the British Medical Journal titled "Evaluating computerised health information systems: hard
lessons still to be learnt".
In that article the authors make a sour analysis of their experience at introducing an health IT system in South Africa.
I am sure that you will find it enlightening.
Regards,
J. Antas
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