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List:       mumps-l
Subject:    Re: The Free Practice Management Project
From:       William Davis MD <wedavis () rconnect ! com>
Date:       1999-07-07 23:02:57
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Antonio,
Using the InterSystems price list of March 1999 an Open M license for DOS
for 8 users (they price them 1,4,8,16, etc.) would be about $1600 per year.
A Cache license would be $130 per process or $1300 for 10 processes
(?users).  I agree with you that it is hard to justify adopting open source
("free") software if there is a large investment needed for the language to
run the open source program.  It would make a lot more sense when the GUM
project has a version of M that is also open source.  But it can still be
very economical compared with other commercial programs.  I have been quoted
prices of $25,000 to $50,000 per provider for medical office software
packages.  If I can buy public domain software for a few hundred dollars (or
$25 for VA software) it can still be a bargain even if I have to pay several
thousand dollars for the language/operating system needed to run the public
domain software.

Bill

William Davis MD
825 Mankato Ave. Suite 210
Winona MN 55987
Phone: 507.454.5050
Fax: 507.454.5102
Email: wedavis@rconnect.com

-----Original Message-----
From: MUMPS List [mailto:MUMPS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Antonio
Gino
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 1999 12:28 PM
To: MUMPS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: The Free Practice Management Project


I really don't know what the price is for a small number of licenses.
I was simply stating that an "Open Source" practice management effort
will not be very "Open Source" if it depends on the purchase of licenses!

For my curiosity, what would be the cost of, say, a 10 user license of
Cache' (assume a small PC network with one NT server)?


On Tue, 6 Jul 1999, Andre Cerri wrote:

> Bill
>
> Interesting post - but I'm a little confused by the pricing statements.
> You're intimating that what once cost a few hundred dollars now costs
> thousands?
>
> Undoubtedly a multi user M license costs more than $25. But $5-10,000 for
> the M license?? Networked multi-server? What kind of practice management
> software is that -a large clinic or a small hospital? Most small practice
> managment installations that I know of are a handful of users, running off
a
> single server, with no shadow, nightly backups.
>
> Since the buyout of Micronetics, prices have risen 10% or so. Are you
> looking at Cache' Enterprise licenses?
>
> Regards
>
> Andre Cerri
> Sales Engineer
> InterSystems Corp
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: William Davis MD <wedavis@rconnect.com>
> To: MUMPS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <MUMPS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: Saturday, July 03, 1999 12:26 AM
> Subject: Re: The Free Practice Management Project
>
>
> >Yes, the language requirement is an important point.  When I started
using
> >COSTAR in 1987, I could buy a license for M (the language used by COSTAR)
> >for a few hundred dollars.  The recent buy out of Micronetics by
> >InterSystems (the two main suppliers of M language) has given
InterSystems
> a
> >monopoly and the prices have risen considerably.  It is still possible to
> >get a single user version for free (a demo version) or for less than
$200.
> >Most medical record systems use some kind of database language (Oracle,
> >Access, etc.) and there is a price for using them especially in networked
> >environments.  I have never looked into an oracle license so I have
nothing
> >to compare it with.  The VA Vista software comes on a CD ROM for $25
> >dollars.  I don't have the address with me but if you look at
> >www.hardhats.org you can get additional information including how to
order.
> >COSTAR used to have a users group but it dissolved and was recently taken
> up
> >by Gordon Storr who was part of the development team and markets an
> >inexpensive version of public domain COSTAR that he supports for a number
> of
> >users.  He can be contacted at www.costar.net/costar.htm.
> >
> >What interested me about the idea of developing public domain practice
> >software is that it has already been done at government expense and there
> is
> >a group that is now developing a public domain M which is currently in
test
> >versions.  It now runs on Linux but the plan is to port it to other
> >operating systems as well and the advantage would but little or no cost.
> It
> >is had to justify spending $5000 to $10,000 for the network version of M
> >language/database to run software you can buy for $25!
> >Bill
> >
> >William Davis MD
> >825 Mankato Ave. Suite 210
> >Winona MN 55987
> >Phone: 507.454.5050
> >Fax: 507.454.5102
> >Email: wedavis@rconnect.com
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: MUMPS List [mailto:MUMPS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf Of Antonio
> >Gino
> >Sent: Friday, July 02, 1999 5:14 PM
> >To: MUMPS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >Subject: Re: The Free Practice Management Project
> >
> >
> >Hoowever, before you jump into those systems you should know that
> >they are dependent on a proprietary programming language (M) and
> >the vendors of that language charge you by the user license.
> >
> >
> >On Fri, 2 Jul 1999, Jake Mathew wrote:
> >
> >> Bill,
> >>
> >> Thank you for the info on COSTAR and VA Fileman.  Do you know how one
can
> >> obtain these either as a demo or the 'real thing'?
> >> I'm glad you mentioned this as I did not have any idea of its
existence.
> >>
> >> Thanks again.
> >>
> >> jake//
> >>
> >> ----------
> >> > From: William Davis MD <wedavis@rconnect.com>
> >> > To: MUMPS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> >> > Subject: Re: The Free Practice Management Project
> >> > Date: Thursday, July 01, 1999 11:39 PM
> >> >
> >> > Such a system is already available in the public domain.  Called
COSTAR
> >> and
> >> > developed at Harvard and Mass Gen Hosp with federal funding.  Several
> >> > vendors developed commercial versions but the public version was
> >> available
> >> > for the cost of the disks.  Another example is the VA Fileman which
is
> >> now
> >> > called Vista and is available for $25 from the VA.  There is always
> >> someone
> >> > ready to invent the wheel again.
> >> > Bill
> >> >
> >> > William Davis MD
> >> > 825 Mankato Ave. Suite 210
> >> > Winona MN 55987
> >> > Phone: 507.454.5050
> >> > Fax: 507.454.5102
> >> > Email: wedavis@rconnect.com
> >
>

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