Perot Systems Corporation has been selected by the Kingdom of Jordan to manage the pilot deployment of the open source clinical information system VistA at two hospitals and a clinic in the capital, Amman.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan plans to develop an integrated national healthcare infrastructure using VistA a single software platform. Terms of the deal with Perot were not disclosed.
The 18-month pilot phase of the project is intended to be followed by a very rapid roll out phase to all 43 hospitals in Jordan. The project is thought to be the largest roll-out of VistA outside the US.
VistA – no relation to Microsoft’s Vista operating system – is an open source clinical and healthcare information management system, developed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and widely used in its medical facilities.
Vista offers a proven open source, enterprise-wide, fully integrated, fully functional scalable information system built around an electronic health record. The VistA based health infrastructure, processes and knowledge is said to offer a high quality, cost effective solution.
The use of VistA, eventually across the whole of Jordan, is seen as a key to transformation of the healthcare system, which will help to reduce cost and increase the quality of healthcare. Once operational, the system will help track and manage at the highest levels healthcare patterns, diseases and trends in the region and provide a large amount of clinical data for research on the diseases in the Middle East.
A further key objective of the project will be to deliver an educational program around VistA’s technical and clinical processes that will allow Jordan to become self-sustainable in managing its health management information system and enable them to offer this capability and expertise to their neighbours in the North Africa region, together with less affluent Middle East countries such as Egypt.
“When we were looking to initiate this project, we were first and foremost looking for a company that has the resources and capabilities to handle a national rollout of this project and become our partner. Perot Systems is that company," said Dr Rami Farraj, chairman of the board of directors of E-Health Solutions, the non-profit Jordanian company responsibility for national IT development.
“This pilot project with the Kingdom of Jordan should enable the efficiency of the system to be maximized as well as help to deliver improved clinical outcomes for the citizens of Jordan. We are very excited to be involved in this ground-breaking project with the Jordanians," said Dr Kevin Fickenscher, executive vice president and managing director for Perot Systems’ International Healthcare.
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