It might be more accurate to talk about what VistA used to be (in the days it was called DHCP) compared to what it has become. I agree that for many today VistA is nothing more than static code. However, what has been largely lost and should be restored is not just recognition of its conceptual content or architecture, but the very culture that embraced continuous change. I quote the founding principles of DHCP from "Conceptual Foundation of DHCP", Richard G. Davis, Ph.D., MUG Quarterly, Vol. XVII, No. 1,1987,pp 111-116.
"The following are the basic principles that have guided the evolution of the DHCP up to the present. If these principles are continuously applied, then the future of DHCP will continue to be a steady, cost effective, advancement of modern information systems technology. "1. Provide systems that are acceptable to the end users as effective techniques for managing medical and administrative information based on close, continuous interaction between the producers and users of the information system products. "2. Obtain the largest return possible on the investment of VA funds in information systems. "3. Guarantee an extended useful life for the system measured in decades without any compromise to the functional value of the system. "4. Recognize the basis for the long history of failure to deliver worthwhile information systems to hospitals, and avoid these situations. "5. Maintain a coherent and integrated design for the DHCP that will guarantee a graceful evolution of the program to the end point of a fully integrated system, and that will manage all aspects of information processing in a hospital and clinic environment at the local level as well as at the national level. "6. Comply with these principles while rapidly and inexpensively adapting to the continually changing circumstances in a very large health care system." -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of A. Forrey Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 7:56 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Hardhats-members] VA Aims To Build Congress' Faith In Tech Upgrade Again, VistA "is" both its conceptual content and its implemented "code base" that reflects a whole "architecture". It is given that the conceptual content will change as both basic science and clinical application change. The VistA Evolution Process must accomodate both dimensions. Many functions can use encapsulated functional components; what those components are and how they are used in the infrastructure are design decisions for the VistA architecture. Your comments below reflect that basic reality for VistA, or any other healthcare enterprise architecture. For the VistA Community the effort must be to see how to collaboratively build and share both the conceptual models and the implementation processes to the optimal extent. On Mon, 9 May 2005, Greg Woodhouse wrote: > Of course, that raises a more basic question. What *is* VistA? If you > take the point of view that whatever sort of thing it is, it should > remain viable for 100 years or more, then most likely, you don't > anticipate much of what constitutes VistA being left (at least of the > actual codebase). I think the presupposition of the first option is > that VistA is the "stuff" that makes it up (i.e., actual lines of code, > files, etc.) and it seems entirely reasonable to think that THAT will > eventually become obsolete. > > I've tried in the past to make the argument that the value of VistA > resides not in the actual lines of code of which it consists, but in > the body of knowledge and insight that went into creating it. But I > have found that this is line of thinking that is usually rejected out > of hand -- petrhaps because the community seems to have such an > interest in preserving the existing code and functionality without > looking forward at how what we've learned in building VistA can be put > to use. > > --- "K.S. Bhaskar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Part of the problem is our cultural predisposition to equate old with >> >> obsolete, inadequate, and useless. When were the standards >> established >> for screws? Yet, in this 21st century, I still count on going to the >> >> hardware store and being able to purchase a screw that fits by >> looking >> at a bin labelled with the number of the thread standard. >> >> The problem with VistA is not its age per se. It is a culture that >> doesn't plan for a process of refreshing and renewal. The question >> to >> ask for VistA (or any other major enterprise wide application) should >> >> not be, "How long can we live with it and when will it be obsolete?" >> Rather it is, "How do we keep VistA viable for the next hundred >> years?" >> The VistA of a hundred years from now is guaranteed to look nothing >> >> like the VistA of today, but there will have been a continuum of >> availability and useful service. Rome to us doesn't doesn't look >> anything like the way it looked to Julius Caesar, but there has been >> a >> Rome in continuous existence for over 2,000 years because no city >> planner said, "The city will be obsolete in ten years, and we'll just >> >> raze it and replace it with a new city that has the latest [[insert >> hot >> buzzphrase]] in urban planning." >> >> -- Bhaskar >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------- >> This SF.Net email is sponsored by: NEC IT Guy Games. >> Get your fingers limbered up and give it your best shot. 4 great >> events, 4 >> opportunities to win big! Highest score wins.NEC IT Guy Games. Play >> to >> win an NEC 61 plasma display. Visit http://www.necitguy.com/?r=20 >> _______________________________________________ >> Hardhats-members mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members >> > > A practical man is a man who practices the errors of his forefathers. --Benjamin Disraeli > ==== > Greg Woodhouse > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > This SF.Net email is sponsored by: NEC IT Guy Games. > Get your fingers limbered up and give it your best shot. 4 great events, 4 > opportunities to win big! Highest score wins.NEC IT Guy Games. Play to > win an NEC 61 plasma display. 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