I don't understand how this distro integrates with medical applications, well, I don't even understand what applications you've included with this distribution that sets it apart from any other distro.
However, I find it very intriguing that someone is working on a distro that is directed toward the medical field, for a number of reasons. Medical software for physicians there practices is overwhelmingly expensive, and unfortunately the only real way to test the programs out there (and all their promises to stream line your business) is to invest thousands and thousands into a proprietary system. Plus the contracts most physicians find themselves locked into usually means a nightmare. So many things happen to the software companies themselves too, such as the business begins to tank, and on their spiral down it becomes increasingly difficult for tech support and maintenance.
More over, expansion of the software suite usually means even more investment . . . for example, a module for booking patients, billing, electronic medical records, contact sheets, and on and on. Even doing something as simple as including an x-ray image for an electronic record can mean investing more money. Now, combine these increasing costs with the decreasing returns most doctors offices are seeing these days: medicare/aid with their six month reimbursement problems, contracts with insurance providers that instantly reduce reimbursement by 20 - 30 percent, and patients that refuse to pay their bills.
Additionally, there is another area for plenty of expansion: quality medical care in under-served countries and communities. A lot of rural physicians cannot afford an expensive computer system, let alone all the modules and features. Plus, under-served (third world countries) are looking towards low-cost solutions, and Linux has been playing a vital role inside of this. I've seen many attempts to develop an open-source medical suite, some are done with FileMaker Pro, some are done in any even worse fashion.
As things stand right now, there is a huge demand for a low cost solution to the needs of medical practitioners. My mother runs two clinics in rural areas, this where I find most of my knowledge on the subject. I, along with other family members, have worked to support her information technology needs, but there is still so much we don't know or simply have the time to try and deal with on our own, or worse, there must be a monetary justification to use the time -- it always stinks to charge a family member for services, at least it does to me.
What we've been focusing on is a software suite called OpenEMR: hxxp: www. openemr. net
And while this suite has been great to a large extent, it doesn't really have the community support it needs. For example, bill collections is one of the most difficult things for a medical practice to keep up with. The insurance company has purposely made it a painful and difficult process to collect. As such, there is constantly a need to keep the software up-to-date with this grueling task that most people just hate doing.
Also, I'm not entirely sure what the limits of this suite are, my uncle does most of the coding to replace what's missing, but I don't think there is a large support for cataloging patient prescriptions (which has the advantage of flagging drugs that may come into conflict when administered with other drugs), and the inclusion of test results from referred physicians is clunky at best. Plus, there had to be another staff member just to get the system to work correctly with out-sourced bill collections (to ensure the information sent and returns is correct); apparently this is less of a problem with more popular proprietary $olutions.
Additionally, as there is a need to cut costs as much as possible, without sacrificing patient quality, it'd be nice to have a package that includes features for small businesses such as online appointment booking (including pre-insurance approval as this would save time and hassle during check-in), and other features such as integrating VoIP solutions (the regular phone branch exchange systems can cost hundreds of dollars a month while a smart solution using Skype will work just as well).
I think there is a vacuum for integrated solutions like this, and if you're serious about developing a Linux distro that could meet the needs of physicians, you'd be appearing on a world-class level as this is something that reaches into the most remote areas of the world.
God speed.
I am proud to announce the first release of Oz Rx,. . . . a proof concept for the Health Care field.
Keep in mind this is the base OS, of which we will build on for active solutions for the Health Care, and Health research and educational field. . .
hxxp: www. rpath. org/rbuilder/project/oz/release?id=5604
More to come in future developments, for now we have a stabile and reliable base OS to build on, if you would like to become involved as a developer for Oz Rx please let me know here or by PM.
