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Oacis software lives despite company demise

by Michael Irving
Emerald Communications and Training Committee
Following a troubling year of uncertainty, Science Applications International Corporation closed the doors on its wholly-owned subsidiary, Oacis Healthcare in November 2000. 

But rather than completely abandoning its installed base of customers, SAIC struck a deal with Dinmar Consulting Inc. (http://www.dinmar.com/main.htm) an Ottawa, Canada-based health care consulting business. Dinmar, at the time, was familiar with both Oacis and its customers, having established a good reputation assisting a number of clients to install Oacis products. Support on the proposed scale would be something new, however.

Dinmar's management spent a large portion of the fall negotiating with Science Applications and with the installed customer base, including MUSC, to decide the terms under which it would assume the rights to Oacis, including the name, as well as provide technical support. During the long period of decline experienced by Oacis last year, many of its more than 200 employees left to seek employment elsewhere. Many of the remainder, however, moved across to Dinmar at the same time that the product was transferred. This has helped sustain at least some of the intellectual capital so vital to a software house’s long term survival.

MUSC has taken the necessary steps to maintain the stability of the installed Oacis software products. In addition, MUSC has signed on with Dinmar for support but would prefer to consider this support a safety net and obviate its need by exercising extreme caution.  Having taken this important security step, attention was turned to replacement issues.

A series of meetings in the fall of 2000 established in the minds of the Medical Center leadership that replacement of Oacis would be a necessity. It also became very clear that this would be a complex and expensive process that would take time. 

A first look at alternative vendors was taken in the fall as the market leaders enthusiastically responded to invitations to show off their wares. The object of these demonstrations was not to select but rather to take a look at what was available. This was considered important since the long engagement with Oacis put many of the medical center staff out of touch with currently available products. 

The demonstrations revealed quite clearly that replacement of Oacis will be highly complex and expensive, but also richly rewarding. Replacement systems are likely to have valuable features that are not currently available in Oacis, such as clinical documentation and direct provider order entry.

At the end of December, MUSC’s proposed plan with respect to Oacis was presented to the President's Council. From this review came the request to get outside, independent assessments from two industry leaders - Dr. Paul D. Clayton, professor of medical informatics at the University of Utah and Dr. Robert E. Reynolds, director of the Division of Clinical Informatics at the University of Virginia. 

During the first week of February, Clayton and Reynolds met with physicians, nurses, other clinicians, administrators and information technology professionals to learn more about MUSC’s past planning, current thinking and future directions. A report from these consultants is expected soon, but at their exit interview they reported a preliminary impression that our efforts during the past decade, and our plans for the future, have been and are in the right direction.

Meanwhile MUSC's Center for Computer and Information Technology is proceeding with an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) / RFP (Request for Proposal) process designed to establish on paper what the medical center requires in its core clinical computing systems.  These are the fundamental steps necessary to establish in which market place clinical software vendors can meet MUSC's long term needs. 

A full-blown replacement of Oacis is likely to take two years or more. 

With this replacement comes not just equivalent functionality but new and exciting features. The point is, however, that Oacis will be the clinical core system that will be with us and in use for the foreseeable future. It therefore makes sense to continue to train new staff, and new residents in its most effective use. 

Not only that, but under the guidance of the Clinical Information Systems Steering Committee, enhancements to Oacis will continue to be made.  To sustain the fruits of this effort, projects whose value is portable to another system will be particularly favored. 

MUSC has enjoyed a long productive run with Oacis and its forerunner, StatLan, of almost 14 years. In the search for a replacement system, durability of equivalent or greater value will be a high priority. The process of replacement will take time, energy and money but a wise choice will carry MUSC’s core clinical computing needs well into the next decade.