Recently we made the decision to start giving donations to charities as a thank you to new clients coming on board. Basically, our plan is that for every new client that
comes on board we're taking a % of their payment and giving it directly
to someone in need.
Today we made our second major donation to two of our favorite charities.
1 - Doctors without Borders Canada / MSF
http://www.msf.ca/
For more than 40 years, MSF has been providing medical assistance to
people affected by armed conflicts, natural disasters, disease
epidemics, malnutrition crises and other emergencies. All of these types
of situation call for the rapid deployment of specialized medical and
logistical expertise and equipment. MSF is world renowned for their ability to
respond quickly and for their efficient work in complicated crises.
2 - Free the Children
http://www.freethechildren.com/
Founded in 1995, Free the Children works to free children from poverty
and exploitation by empowering communities with the skills and resources
needed to change their lives. The charity implements the
Adopt-a-Village development model in rural and marginalized areas in 8
countries: Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Ecuador, Haiti, Nicaragua, China,
and India. This model has 5 pillars: education, health care,
alternative income, clean water/sanitation, and agriculture/food
security. FTC builds schools and water wells, and provides medical
treatment and income sources to the developing regions. These projects
are designed to address the root cause of poverty and remove the
barriers to children's education in the developing world.
Thank you to all our new clients for making this possible.
Cheers! Have a happy and healthy day.
The whole OscarHost team.
We build and support open-source web software for Canadian healthcare providers.
Thursday, 22 October 2015
Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Watsi donation update and Ontario fee changes | OscarHost blog
We recently made a Watsi donation to help a young girl in Thailand receive the medical care she needs. You can find out more about our first donation below.
Changes have also been made to fees for physicians in Ontario. Further details on this can also be found below.
Changes have also been made to fees for physicians in Ontario. Further details on this can also be found below.
Watsi donation update
Crowdfunding has recently revolutionized the healthcare world, especially in developing nations. It has allowed people that would otherwise not be able to receive the care they need to get access to that care through the donations of others. We recently did some research into how crowdfunding has improved healthcare and made the decision to regularly donate a percentage of our revenue to those who need it most.
Our first donation was to a nine-year-old girl name Naw who lives in Thailand. She developed tumours on her leg and tongue and required surgery in order to remove them. We were able to contribute to the full funding of Naw's care. You can find out more about our donation by reading our first donation update. We will keep you posted on future donations as well.
Our first donation was to a nine-year-old girl name Naw who lives in Thailand. She developed tumours on her leg and tongue and required surgery in order to remove them. We were able to contribute to the full funding of Naw's care. You can find out more about our donation by reading our first donation update. We will keep you posted on future donations as well.
Fee changes in Ontario
As of October 1st, 2015, fee-for-service rates in Ontario were reduced by 1.3%. Additional cuts to specific fees for certain specialists were also made.
To update the fees in your OSCAR EMR, please download the new OHIP Fee Schedule Master file and import it through your OscarHost account. If you need assistance with this, please email us at support@oscarhost.ca.
The action is part of an ongoing dispute between the Ontario government and Ontario's physicians. It has been speculated that the issue could escalate into job action from physicians. The Ontario Medical Association has suggested the matter be settled through binding arbitration.
Hopefully, both parties will be able to come to a resolution quickly and patients won't be affected by these changes.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions or feedback regarding these updates!
To update the fees in your OSCAR EMR, please download the new OHIP Fee Schedule Master file and import it through your OscarHost account. If you need assistance with this, please email us at support@oscarhost.ca.
The action is part of an ongoing dispute between the Ontario government and Ontario's physicians. It has been speculated that the issue could escalate into job action from physicians. The Ontario Medical Association has suggested the matter be settled through binding arbitration.
Hopefully, both parties will be able to come to a resolution quickly and patients won't be affected by these changes.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions or feedback regarding these updates!
Thursday, 3 September 2015
Crowdfunding improvements in Healthcare
The concept of crowdfunding has really taken off in the last five years thanks to the internet. Globalization and interconnectivity has made it even easier for people to find out about new ideas, products, and projects around the world. It has also made it easier for them to contribute to and support these initiatives through donations. Sites like Indiegogo, Kickstarter, and GoFundMe have provided avenues for products and ideas to get funded by fans, allowing projects that may otherwise not have existed because of a lack of funding to take off.
The possibilities have filtered over into other industries as well. In the healthcare industry, the freedom that crowdfunding provides has been transformed into creative ways to deliver healthcare and improve the industry as a whole.
One such example, Crowdfundhealth.org, is run by a non-profit organization called Possible and its goal is to “make healthcare possible in the world’s most impossible places”. With a current focus on Nepal, Possible delivers treatments and safe-births through a network of partners, including Watsi.org and Kangu.org.
Watsi and Kangu are two more examples of organizations that use donor contributions to help patients around the world receive the healthcare that they otherwise are unable to afford. Similar to an adopt-a-child charity, Watsi and Kangu allow contributors to learn about various patients, their stories, and their health conditions. Donors are then able to donate money to help a particular patient get the care they need. The organizations will provide the donor with updates about the patient they are supporting.
Watsi focuses on various treatments in 20 countries, sending 100% of the donations they receive to the patient. They also have a universal fund that donors can contribute to on a recurring basis. Kangu focuses on providing healthcare services to pregnant women in the regions in the world with the highest maternal mortality rates, including Uganda, Nepal, Burundi, and India. Kangu’s main goal is to provide expecting mothers in these countries with access to safe birth practices and care.
Samahope.org is another example of a crowdfunding health startup. Samahope allows people to support the work of specific medical professionals around the world. By donating, contributors are helping doctors continue their work to care for patients in areas like Somaliland, India, Ghana, Uganda, Nepal, the US, and beyond. Each doctor’s specialty helps him or her provide necessary care to patients that would not have the resources required to receive effective help for their conditions.
The idea of crowdfunding opens a whole new world of possibilities for patients requiring care in rural, often impoverished areas of the world. It also provides medical professionals with another source of funding to help them continue providing crucial care.
Approaching the problem from another angle, MedStartr.com offers companies and people with innovations in the healthcare industry an avenue to raise the funds they need to put their innovations into production. These innovators are able to find partners, mentors, and funding through MedStartr, allowing them to develop their ideas into realities.
Another example of health tech crowdfunding is one that’s very close to home. OscarHost recently crowdfunded the development of Alberta lab integrations for the OSCAR EMR through gofundme.com. While we didn’t raise 100% of the money we were looking for to complete the project, we were able to raise enough to justify funding the rest ourselves. We’ve now finished the development of the Alberta Labs feature for OSCAR 12.1 and have also committed the code back to the open-source OSCAR EMR source code which will make it available for public release soon.
The developers of OSCAR EMR are using crowdfunding as well to sustain development for a number of module re-designs and a health registry.
Crowdfunding has provided a new source of means and impacts the healthcare industry on all levels. From those able to contribute to caring for someone that desperately needs it through donations, to those providing the care, to those receiving the care they otherwise would not, to the people developing the innovations in the healthcare industry, the opportunities that crowdfunding creates may be limitless.
The possibilities have filtered over into other industries as well. In the healthcare industry, the freedom that crowdfunding provides has been transformed into creative ways to deliver healthcare and improve the industry as a whole.
Crowdfunded health startups
Crowdfunding in healthcare gives startups focused on the industry a chance to get the support and resources they need to develop and expand. Many of these companies are using crowdfunding to enable doctors and other medical professionals to give patients that cannot afford the care they need access to that care through the help of donors.One such example, Crowdfundhealth.org, is run by a non-profit organization called Possible and its goal is to “make healthcare possible in the world’s most impossible places”. With a current focus on Nepal, Possible delivers treatments and safe-births through a network of partners, including Watsi.org and Kangu.org.
Watsi and Kangu are two more examples of organizations that use donor contributions to help patients around the world receive the healthcare that they otherwise are unable to afford. Similar to an adopt-a-child charity, Watsi and Kangu allow contributors to learn about various patients, their stories, and their health conditions. Donors are then able to donate money to help a particular patient get the care they need. The organizations will provide the donor with updates about the patient they are supporting.
Watsi focuses on various treatments in 20 countries, sending 100% of the donations they receive to the patient. They also have a universal fund that donors can contribute to on a recurring basis. Kangu focuses on providing healthcare services to pregnant women in the regions in the world with the highest maternal mortality rates, including Uganda, Nepal, Burundi, and India. Kangu’s main goal is to provide expecting mothers in these countries with access to safe birth practices and care.
Samahope.org is another example of a crowdfunding health startup. Samahope allows people to support the work of specific medical professionals around the world. By donating, contributors are helping doctors continue their work to care for patients in areas like Somaliland, India, Ghana, Uganda, Nepal, the US, and beyond. Each doctor’s specialty helps him or her provide necessary care to patients that would not have the resources required to receive effective help for their conditions.
The idea of crowdfunding opens a whole new world of possibilities for patients requiring care in rural, often impoverished areas of the world. It also provides medical professionals with another source of funding to help them continue providing crucial care.
Supporting healthcare’s tech advancements
Aside from directly supporting patients or healthcare professionals, companies that provide services to the healthcare industry have also tapped into the crowdfunding possibilities.Approaching the problem from another angle, MedStartr.com offers companies and people with innovations in the healthcare industry an avenue to raise the funds they need to put their innovations into production. These innovators are able to find partners, mentors, and funding through MedStartr, allowing them to develop their ideas into realities.
Another example of health tech crowdfunding is one that’s very close to home. OscarHost recently crowdfunded the development of Alberta lab integrations for the OSCAR EMR through gofundme.com. While we didn’t raise 100% of the money we were looking for to complete the project, we were able to raise enough to justify funding the rest ourselves. We’ve now finished the development of the Alberta Labs feature for OSCAR 12.1 and have also committed the code back to the open-source OSCAR EMR source code which will make it available for public release soon.
The developers of OSCAR EMR are using crowdfunding as well to sustain development for a number of module re-designs and a health registry.
Why is crowdfunding important for healthcare?
Health issues and complications are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States and they often make the lives of people in countries both wealthy and poor exceptionally difficult. Even with today’s technological advancements, it is all too common that those needing life-changing healthcare are unable to afford it. Through the internet and the rise of crowdfunding, more of the people that could greatly benefit from proper healthcare resources have been able to access what they need.Crowdfunding has provided a new source of means and impacts the healthcare industry on all levels. From those able to contribute to caring for someone that desperately needs it through donations, to those providing the care, to those receiving the care they otherwise would not, to the people developing the innovations in the healthcare industry, the opportunities that crowdfunding creates may be limitless.
Thursday, 20 August 2015
New OscarHost support portal launched for OSCAR EMR users
New support portal is live!
Our brand new help centre is ready to go, full of useful information to make sure our users know the ins and outs of OSCAR. The portal is quickly and easily accessible through the "Help" link in the top right corner of our users' schedule screen or by going to help.oscarhost.ca.This new portal will provide OscarHost users with a one-stop shop for help with common issues and frequently asked questions. It also collects various demonstrations videos, training videos, and other resources relevant to our users in one handy spot.
The Community Forums section provides users with a place to discuss OSCAR functionality, as well as OscarHost-specific topics. The forums are a great way to connect with colleagues and fellow OSCAR users while also giving us an easy way to see what is important to our clients.
In order to post a new topic, users will need to log in to the forum. This can be done using a social media account or by making an account on the forum itself. Support tickets can be created and sent to us directly through the help portal as well. A status update will be available for any tickets created.
If you have any questions or feedback regarding the new support centre, please let us know by contacting us!
Thursday, 18 June 2015
Email notifications feature update, OntarioMD funding ends, and BC MSP fees increase
Just a few quick updates regarding the email notifications feature, the OntarioMD funding program, and a recent change to BC's MSP fee schedule. Find out more about the changes below.
Email notifications without online booking
The feature that sends email notifications for appointments is now available for Oscar without needing the online booking module as well! If you'd like to find out more about how this works with Oscar, please get in touch!
OntarioMD funding ends
Going the way of the dodo (like PITO in BC and POSP in Alberta), the OntarioMD funding program has now officially come to an end. Physicians in Ontario can no longer be funded for using an EMR.
MSP fee increase in BC
As of April 1st, 2015, a fee increase occurred in BC, funded from the 2015/2016 fee allocation. The fee increase was implemented on June 4th, with the most current rates available for download as of June 5th.
Any claims that were being processed when the change was made and have been submitted at the previous rates will be adjusted to match the new rates. The explanatory code BG-Amount will be displayed and a retroactive payment will be applied to a future remittance for any services provided between April 1st and June 4th that have been paid using the previous rates.
The MSC Payment Schedule on the MSP website will be updated with the new rates shortly.
Any claims that were being processed when the change was made and have been submitted at the previous rates will be adjusted to match the new rates. The explanatory code BG-Amount will be displayed and a retroactive payment will be applied to a future remittance for any services provided between April 1st and June 4th that have been paid using the previous rates.
The MSC Payment Schedule on the MSP website will be updated with the new rates shortly.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Brand new OscarHost site launched + Alberta lab integration fundraiser
We've got a couple of updates regarding our brand new OscarHost website and a fundraiser we've set up for creating an OSCAR lab integration in Alberta. Read more about each below.
Brand new OscarHost website launched!
We've officially launched our new OscarHost website! We hope the updated look will attract new customers while still providing our current clients with the information and high-quality support that we've offered in the past. Let us know what you think of the new site!
Fundraising for OSCAR labs in Alberta
We're working hard to get a lab interface for the OSCAR EMR in Alberta built. Due to the large amount of development time that this project will take, we've created a fundraiser page on gofundme to increase the financial support required.
We've already passed conformance testing for Calgary Lab services and are just waiting for final approval from Alberta Health Services. If you or any of your colleagues would be interested in helping us cover our development costs, please consider donating! Our goal is $7,500 and we're hoping to commit the final product to the OSCAR source code so that more physicians in Alberta can take advantage of this work.
We've already passed conformance testing for Calgary Lab services and are just waiting for final approval from Alberta Health Services. If you or any of your colleagues would be interested in helping us cover our development costs, please consider donating! Our goal is $7,500 and we're hoping to commit the final product to the OSCAR source code so that more physicians in Alberta can take advantage of this work.
As always, please feel free to also get in touch with any questions or feedback you have for us!
Tuesday, 12 May 2015
Alberta Lab Interface for Oscar EMR
*Exciting new update on May 15th!
"We just received final AHS approval for our first two offices! Extremely exciting. We're ready to go live once the interface and Oscar version issues have been solved!"
Oscar Host is creating a labs interface for Oscar EMR in Alberta. We have already passed conformance testing for Calgary Lab services and the other service areas should be fairly simple to pass once we recieve final approval from AHS. However, there are a couple of issues that will require further work before we can officially release the product.
First, the current version of the Alberta labs importer has been built into the newer version of Oscar 14 which isn't ready for use in most offices. We need to back-port this to Oscar 12.1 which is what most users are currently using in Alberta and around Canada.
Second, due to the way labs are formatted in Alberta and how conformance requires them to be displayed in the EMR there are some user interface issues involving displaying multiple labs on one page that will need to be solved before the system will be ready for in-office use.
We're simply looking to cover our costs for development and testing to launch this new labs interface and we will be attempting to commit this project back to the oscar source code once finished. In the meantime, as Oscar is open-source, should anyone like access to the code we are developing please just let us know.
If you are interested in the continued growth of Oscar in Alberta and throughout Canada please consider supporting this project.
"We just received final AHS approval for our first two offices! Extremely exciting. We're ready to go live once the interface and Oscar version issues have been solved!"
Oscar Host is creating a labs interface for Oscar EMR in Alberta. We have already passed conformance testing for Calgary Lab services and the other service areas should be fairly simple to pass once we recieve final approval from AHS. However, there are a couple of issues that will require further work before we can officially release the product.
First, the current version of the Alberta labs importer has been built into the newer version of Oscar 14 which isn't ready for use in most offices. We need to back-port this to Oscar 12.1 which is what most users are currently using in Alberta and around Canada.
Second, due to the way labs are formatted in Alberta and how conformance requires them to be displayed in the EMR there are some user interface issues involving displaying multiple labs on one page that will need to be solved before the system will be ready for in-office use.
We're simply looking to cover our costs for development and testing to launch this new labs interface and we will be attempting to commit this project back to the oscar source code once finished. In the meantime, as Oscar is open-source, should anyone like access to the code we are developing please just let us know.
If you are interested in the continued growth of Oscar in Alberta and throughout Canada please consider supporting this project.
Jordan Visco
CEO - OscarHost
by Cloud Practice Inc.
CEO - OscarHost
by Cloud Practice Inc.
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