Six-month losses widen at iSoft
,----[ Quote ]
| ISoft, the medical software firm being investigated for alleged
| accounting irregularities, has seen its sales fall over the past six
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| months.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6167969.stm
Context:
Microsoft in the NHS
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is one of the key technology firms in the £6.2 billion NHS
| IT programme. It is working particularly closely with iSOFT ...
`---- ^^^^^
http://www.e-health-insider.com/comment_and_analysis/index.cfm?ID=69
Now watch what happens...
Failed NHS project cost $12 billion
(Accenture, Microsoft, iSoft)
http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,2058194,00.asp
Quick math: 12,000/60=200
That's 200 quid (almost $400) per citizen in the UK (roughly a grand per
family) for a failed project that revolves around MS.
Accenture escapes £1bn penalty for NHS walk-out
,----[ Quote ]
| Accenture, the IT and consultancy firm has avoided huge penalty fees for
| withdrawing from the UK National Programme for IT (NPfIT).
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/29/accenture_nhs_penalty/
Accenture: NHS failure is 'track record for success'
,----[ Quote ]
| After months of negotiations, Accenture handed contracts worth £2bn over
| to rival Computer Sciences Corporation after getting paid just £110m
| for spending a third of the allotted 10 years on the job. Its hand had
| been forced by losses of $450m it was set to make on the deal this
| year.
`----
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/09/28/accenture_failure_success/
CfH refutes computer failure claims
,----[ Quote ]
| "Very often they are not major incidents as such, but could be caused when
| a patient administration system is running slow or there may be problems
| with the local network. The severity level is attributed by the user and
| this is subsequently very often down graded or amended."
|
| Many of the incidents that have been reported by CfH include failure of
| the systems used by surgeons to see X-ray pictures on a computer screen
| in wards and operating theatres. On some occasions the system is believed
| to have crashed during an operation, forcing surgeons to suspend the
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| procedure while a hard copy of the X-ray is found.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/19/cfh_defends_itself/
NHS computer boss failed IT exams
,----[ Quote ]
| Mary Granger is amazed that her son was put in charge of a £20bn
| project to transform the NHS's computer system. She is less
| surprised that his 'Connecting for Health' project is over-budget,
| behind schedule and threatening to become the biggest IT disaster
| in history.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35685
It is a good things some have begun moving to Linux.
NHS: National Institute for Mental Health in England
,----[ Quote ]
| The National Institute for Mental Health in England have made the move
| to Zimbra, Red Hat Linux Enterprise Groupware and the Linux Apache
| MySQL PHP (LAMP) system. Learn how Open Source has transformed
| their business...
`----
http://www.openadvantage.org/casestudies/oadocument.2006-09-01.9021661077
Zen Engineering And CHILI GmbH Partner To Market Linux-Based Healthcare
Solutions
,----[ Quote ]
| Linux and other Open Source technologies are used as a primary vehicle
| for delivering cost efficient enterprise solutions while strategic
| alliances with hardware and software manufacturers enable Zen
| Engineering Network to provide a comprehensive storefront of
| technology infrastructure and services.
|
| In 2004, Zen Engineering Network launched a "Linux for Healthcare"
| initiative to address the demand for low-cost healthcare information
| systems. Through this effort, vendors were identified that utilized
| Open Source technology to lower costs for their customers and an array
| of service offerings were created to facilitate migration to these
| solutions.
`----
http://linux.sys-con.com/read/304446_p.htm
Let's look at what happens with proprietary technology in the United States
healthcare system...
Collection of Kaiser EHR Troubles Links
,----[ Quote ]
| Here's a collection of links about Kaiser's problems with its
| electronic medical record.
`----
http://www.linuxmednews.com/1163794305
Head of Kaiser's digital project quits
,----[ Quote ]
| The resignation of J. Clifford Dodd, a senior vice president and
| chief information officer for Kaiser, came four days after another
| Kaiser employee sent a scathing e-mail to most of the company's
| 140,000 employees about his concerns over the high-profile
| technology project, known as HealthConnect.
|
| [...]
|
| In an interview, Deal said cost overruns were common and that data
| showed the new software system breaking down so frequently that
| doctors and patients were often left for long periods without
| access to medical records.
|
| [...]
|
| Others worry that digital medical records pose risks to patients'
| privacy, pointing to cases like that of the Veterans Administration,
| which lost personal data including medical information on millions
| of veterans last spring.
`----
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-kaiser8nov08,1,4250636.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true
http://tinyurl.com/yxvc22
our data or your life
,----[ Quote ]
| As unlikely and alarmist as this sounds, it could really happen. Intracare
| is the publisher of a popular practice management system called Dr. Notes.
| When some doctors balked at a drastic increase in their annual software
| lease, they were cut off from accessing their own patients? information.
|
| This situation is completely unconscionable. There can be no truly
| open doctor-patient relationship when an unrelated third party is the
| de facto owner of and gatekeeper to all related data.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1709
Zombies attack Seattle hospital
,----[ Quote ]
| Christopher Maxwell, from Vacaville, California, 20, also confessed
| to disrupting US military systems during the January 2005 attack. As part
| of a plea bargain agreement, Maxwell agree to pay $252,000 in compensation
| to Northwest Hospital and Medical Centre in Seattle, the main victim of
| his attack, and the Department of Defense.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/05/hospital_zombie_attack/
Same mess that entire sites have been built to talk about while preaching
that Linux and Open Source must replace that legacy paradigm.
When Linux is used it's an entirely different story.
Ahead for 2007: Open-source software for RHIOs?
,----[ Quote ]
| With open-source software, users can see the source code and modify
| it to meet their needs. They are expected to share enhancements with
| other users. As is the case with the open-source Linux operating
| system, for-profit companies can make money on open-source software
| by providing custom implementations and support.
|
| About 75 people attended the forum, and many expressed interest in
| joining an open-source community for clinical systems. The foundation
| will hold a similar meeting in California this week.
`----
http://govhealthit.com/article96800-11-13-06-Web
The UN even approves it.
Editor's Corner (on Open Source in Healthcare)
,----[ Quote ]
| Suggesting that a private healthcare provider switch from
| proprietary software to open source-based applications is one
| thing. But when an official affiliated with as august a body as
| the United Nations suggests that all member countries adopt open
| source for their healthcare applications, that's a much bigger deal.
`----
http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/editor-s-corner/2006-10-09
More links:
Geisinger Health System and IBM Join Forces to Implement Patient Centric
Healthcare Model for 21st Century
,----[ Quote ]
| The CDIS, which utilizes open standard based technology, will serve as
| the foundation for Geisinger's integrated clinical, financial,
| operational, claims, genomic and other medical data in a format that
| allows for rapid analysis and reporting of vital insights from millions
| of patient encounters.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/061010/0171060.html
IBM brings electronic medical records one step closer through open technology
,----[ Quote ]
| IBM today announced a major step in the drive toward a national
| electronic medical records system by contributing software technology
| that supports the exchange of healthcare information to the open source
| community.
`----
http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/pr.nsf/pages/news.20060809_openhealthcare.html
Healthcare, Meet Open Source
,----[ Quote ]
| "Medical facilities and doctors all have their own ways of communicating
| and distributing medical information much of it hard copy," Scott Handy,
| vice president of worldwide Linux and open source at IBM, told
| internetnews.com.
|
| "There is no good way to transmit medical information because there was
| no standard."
|
| Even with a standard in place, solutions would still be difficult to come
| by, which is why IBM is open sourcing an implementation of a health
| care information exchange standard.
`----
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3625686
Returning to the orignal story about oSoft, "accounting irregularities"?
Sound like something familiar.
How Much is Too Much?
,----[ Summary ]
| Microsoft says it will stick with Xbox. But with years of heavy losses
| behind it, the pressure's on for the gaming division to make good
`----
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/oct2006/id20061013_283856.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories
http://tinyurl.com/yxdr4j
Microsoft stoic despite massive losses
,----[ Quote ]
| If you were to judge by the PR rhetoric, you'd think the 360 was
| an unstoppable commercial juggernaut. As usual though, PR lies.
`----
http://www.gamerscan.com/articles/06/10/09/microsofts.massive.losses/
Microsoft Hides Its Mobile and Business Apps Divisions
,----[ Quote ]
| The company is folding its two worst-performing divisions -- Microsoft
| Business Solutions (its business applications unit) and its Mobile and
| Embedded units -- into the Microsoft Business Division and Microsoft Home
| and Entertainment units, respectively.
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1990243,00.asp?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
A Dozen Stocks For '07
,----[ Quote ]
| Millen also thinks $36 billion in planned share buybacks
| will help the stock.
`----
http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/05/stocks-markets-investing-pf-ii-cz_ag_1205stockpicks.html?partner=yahootix
http://tinyurl.com/yjzfbo
Microsoft's past stock options practice poses questions
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft in 1999 announced that it would end a policy of awarding
| options at monthly lows and said it would take a $217 million charge,
| though many details of that discontinued practice haven't been widely
| known, The Wall Street Journal said Friday.
|
| Those details raise questions about how Microsoft began the practice,
| what prompted the company to end it and whether the way the options
| were dated--at 30-day lows the month after they were
| granted--influenced other companies, it said.
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6084617.html
Microsoft counts on Vista to recharge stagnant stock
,----[ Quote ]
| There was a time in the 1990s when shares of Microsoft stock seemed to
| double every couple of years. 1996: college for the kids. 1998: a place
| on Whidbey. 1999: early retirement.
|
| Times have changed.
`----
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003437957_vista19.html
Commentary: Microsoft needs more than just buybacks to lift its shares
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft shares, which have been dormant for the last few years,
| have been looking up over the last couple months. The Dow industrials
| component has gained about 20% since hitting a 4-year low of $21.46 o
| June 13.
|
| To help move things along, Microsoft not only launched a $40 billion
| stock repurchase program that lasts through 2011, the company also said
| its previously announced 4-year, $30 billion stock buyback program was
| completed in just 2 years.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B685EFB89%2D5791%2D4E8B%2DAD6A%2D9688F5B6012A%7D&source=blq%2Fyhoo&dist=yhoo&siteid=yhoo
Ego-crazed Scoble burns MS bridges
,----[ Quote ]
| The post here entitled "Why Wall Street didn't believe Steve Ballmer
| (and what he can do about it)" hit new heights of self-aggrandising
| and must have made grisly reading for Microsoft's PR.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32466
|
|
