Re: [SLUG] Open Source Medical Practice Management Software

[Brad Thomson <bthomson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 06/03/2008, at 9:05 AM, Ken Wilson wrote:
[...]
> But they do have to keep it for 7 years plus, for the taxman, and in  
> medical negligence court cases it can be 21+7 years plus. Most would  
> have the backup disc and just hope someone could read it if ever  
> required.
> Ken
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It's not only the data retention requirements that feature in this  
type of software, but depending on the exact nature of what the  
business does, ongoing funding compliance.

I have just come off the back of a painful 5 months facilitating the  
introduction of an industry-specific, proprietary solution for a large  
nursing home on the Central Coast, and have seen failure within the  
software result in the business not being able to provide supporting  
evidence for their funding claims for particular classes of residents.

I believe that we could have coded equivalent functionality, or  
modified an existing package in a shorter timeframe than has proved  
the case in working with the vendor to fix the problems, but  
unfortunately we're not able to spend the tens if not hundreds of  
thousands of dollars to ensure that we meet all legal obligations.

I'm finding this thread particularly interesting given these recent  
experiences :)

Cheers,
B.