Linux for Health | Dixon Whitmire, Lead Coding Architect, Watson Health

In this episode, we’re excited to bring you a conversation with Watson Health’s Lead Coding Architect, Dixon Whitmire. Dixon is here to give us the details on the open source project Linux For Health, the aim of which is to be the reference implementation for healthcare transactions.

Dixon digs into healthcare transaction technology, how patients and healthcare workers interact with health data, and how an open source project like Linux for Health breaks down the silos of different standards and organizations. Along the way, he describes how changes to the software can have immediate real world benefits for anyone who needs access to health records, a requirement that has only grown in urgency in the shadow of a global pandemic.

If you’re working in — or thinking of using — an open source environment and you have an interest in the way health records are accessed and shared, you won’t want to miss this discussion.

Links related to this episode

• Linux for Health
• IBM Watson Health

Takeaways:

• 00:01 - 00:27 Episode Intro
• 01:15 - 01:52 Introduction to Dixon
• 02:08 - 04:12 Dixon's role at IBM, and Linux For Health
• 04:30 - 05:48 Why go all the way down to the OS?
• 06:06 - 07:34 Problems in the industry: Data is siloed
• 12:06 - 14:33 What ASC X12 and HL7 both are
• 17:34 - 19:01 Security in Linux For Health
• 19:33 - 20:50 EDI: What is it and why it's important
• 26:35 - 29:32 For Developers: Where to start if you want to play around and work on projects
• 34:33 - 36:17 Linux for Health in relation to Watson Health
• 49:29 - 50:22 Final Thoughts by Dixon