| Activities |
| The VMTH utilizes more than 300 desktop computers and servers. These range from dedicated clinical and administrative computers to general access stations shared by many students and medical personnel, to specialized diagnostic computing equipment to servers which manage the network, serve files and distribute the web site. There are also numerous networked and personal printers as well as other peripherals. Computer Services is tasked with keeping all of these up and running. |
| VMACS |
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The computers and peripherals in our system all access VMACS (pronounced VEE-Max) which is an acronym for Veterinary Medical & Administrative Computing System. VMACS is a creation of Computer Services and the VMTH as a whole. While it has not always been so, it is now based almost entirely on Open-Source software, notably Greystone Technology MUMPS. VMACS contains modules for Financial Management, Administration, Pharmacy, Medical Records, Medical Imagery, Clinical Services, Laboratories and IT functions such as Network Administration and Inventory Control. |
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| History and Philosophy | |||||
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VMACS is written in a programming language called MUMPS (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System) and was inspired in the early 1980s by a Mass General MUMPS application called COSTAR (Computer Stored Ambulatory Record). COSTAR was an advanced system for its day, but was deficient for use in a veterinary hospital, partly because it was designed for human medicine and thus didn't have the capability to distinguish between species. In those early days, Computer Services consisted of one person, Jim Self. Jim, with input from incoming Administrator, Paul Brentson, concluded that the best option for the VMTH was to develop our own application using Fileman to create a proprietary MUMPS data structure. This was the birth of VMACS. |
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| “In
order to be an integral part of a hospital, an HIS* must be thought of as a
service, NOT a product.” -- Jim Self
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One of the reasons that VMACS has enjoyed success is that it was conceived from the beginning as an ongoing development project. It was recognized early on that VMACS would be affected not only by changing technology, but also by changes to the hospital organization brought about by its own existence. From that starting point, VMACS has engaged in a continuing cycle of development and user feedback which has allowed new technology to be employed in an ever more effective hospital system. The conceptual notion of an HIS as a service, rather than a product that is at some point in time finished, has proven to be an extremely successful approach. A chief advantage of MUMPS is its scalability. It is significant that, while
many other organizations have ported their data from one DBMS (Database Management
System) to another over the years, the VMTH retains many of its original data
in the original data structures. True, there have been changes in the version
of MUMPS that has been used but, by and large, the VMTH has been spared the
chaos and expense of moving data to an entirely new system. The component
that HAS changed is the means of accessing the data. From roll-and-scroll
to “dumb” (VT) terminal to telnet, we are now moving to browser
based VMACS access. This will allow secure connections from virtually anwhere
via any platform (Linux, Mac, Windows) that uses a web browser. |
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| *Hospital Information System | |||||
