Medical IT

From time to time I attend medical and bioscience professional conferences.
One recurring theme is how much room there is for improvement in medical data management and information technology. Some of the challenges include:
*getting the hodge podge of computer systems found in a large medical facility to interact and share data
*improving methods of storing, accessing & sharing patient records
*tracking treatment results.

I've recently read about some initiatives that may make a big difference.
First, WorldVistA is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a mission to make "medical information technology better and universally affordable." WorldVistA promotes the development and extended use of an open source medical-records program called VistA. VistA was originally created at the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The open source nature of the project means that it ought to be very adaptable and robust and could improve wide-spread data sharing.

Second, Microsoft Health has acquired a project called Azyxxi. According to the website, the Azyxxi software can be used to assimilate "patient-centric, financial and operational data into one unified database." This kind of approach ought to help streamline operations in a facility. The project is in a test stage and MS has partnered with some prestigious hospitals to test the system in real-world situations.

And of course Google has been at work on the problem too, with a health information storage program codenamed Weaver or Google Health. There are some screen shots of the project posted on a blog called blogoscoped. It looks like the project combines Google's search technology with a way for patients to access, store and transfer their own medical records. I like the "put the patient in charge" attitude.
I wonder if it will be compatible with the VistA project?
Google posted a video of VP Marissa Mayer describing(in very general terms)what Weaver might become(see below).
-R