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Frequently
Asked Questions |
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What
is Caisis?
Is it really free?
Can I contribute or become part of this
open-source effort?
I'm having difficulty installing Caisis. Can you help me?
How does Caisis differ from the Haliard
project?
What infrastructure do I need to use Caisis
at my institution?
Why should I use Caisis instead of other
systems?
Is Caisis more secure than other applications?
Can Caisis coexist with other health care
systems?
Where can I download Caisis?
How do I install Caisis?
Is Caisis available in my language?
Does Caisis work with the Mac or Linux
operating systems?
Where did the name Caisis come from?
I still have questions!
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 What
is Caisis? |
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Caisis is a web application designed to bridge the gap between clinical research and clinical practice. The project was started with the goal of improving data quality and accuracy, while reducing time and effort for clinicians trying to summarize and document patient histories. Currently, data is electronically captured in Caisis, then printed onto paper |
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forms (approved by billing and compliance) that can be used for documentation purposes. A long-term goal of Caisis is to replace these paper forms with electronic interfaces on wireless tablet PCs, which should reduce the reliance on trained data management staff and decrease the turnaround time for data capture. |
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Is
it really free? |
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Yes. Caisis is free to download and install under an open-source user license, referred to as the General Public License (GPL). Details about this license can be found at the Open
Source Initiative. The open source agreement |
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allows you to download both the application files and the source code. The source code may be modified and freely distributed, as long as changes are shared with the original license holder and redistributed under the GPL. |
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Can
I contribute or become part of this open-source effort? |
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Absolutely. We welcome the opportunity to speak and work with you. As with all open-source projects, the Caisis Project will be most successful if we build a community of collaborators devoted to the development of freely available software for the healthcare field. As such, we are |
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always looking for new partners to share in the continuing development and improvement of the Caisis application. If you would like to participate, please contact the Caisis team at the following email address: participate@caisis.org. |
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I'm
having difficulty installing Caisis, can you help me? |
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The
Caisis Installation Guide (provided here
in Adobe PDF format) should guide you through the process. However, if you have further questions or problems, please contact our tech team at tech@caisis.org. |
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What
are people doing with Caisis?
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In most instances, people are currently using Caisis to help manage their patient
data. In the future, we hope that users will take advantage of the full scope of the system. The New York Prostate Institute is the first group to take Caisis in a new and different direction through their Haliard project.
The Haliard project expands on the
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functionality of Caisis by incorporating features that are unique to Radiation Oncology, including a brachytherapy seed inventory and management module. This project was developed in less time and with less effort because the base fields, features and functions were already available through the Caisis source code. To learn more about the Haliard Project, please visit Haliard.org. |
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What
infrastructure do I need to use Caisis at my institution? |
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System requirements for Caisis can be found here.
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Why
should I use Caisis instead of other systems? |
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Deciding what system to use in your private practice or hospital can be very difficult because of concerns about security, cost, flexibility, scalability, quality, and reliability. Caisis meets or exceeds requirements in all these categories.
1. Caisis was designed and built to be deployed across the Web outside of an institutional firewall, so it has standalone security that meets or exceeds the guidelines of HIPAA, CFR, and the NCI.
2. Because of the open-source nature of the project, you have zero software investment, substantial input regarding project direction, and access to the source codes.
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3. Caisis iuses enterprise-level technologies (Microsoft's .Net and SQL Server), so scaling from a small private clinic to a larger institution is not a problem.
4. Caisis is Web based, so cost and staffing requirements are far less than client server applications and other systems offered by vendors In addition, you don’t have to worry about vendors going out of business.
5. Caisis iwas designed and built by members of the healthcare community who have faced the same problems you are facing today. |
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Is
Caisis more secure than other applications? |
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The Caisis security system strictly adheres to the guidelines set forth by HIPAA. Steps have been taken to limit unauthorized access to patient data, or other security and confidentiality breaches. Once logged into the application, users can prevent unapproved access to entire sections of data. |
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Can
Caisis coexist with other health care systems? |
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The features in Caisis have been designed to complement other hospital systems, including electronic medical records and order-management systems. The functions of some hospital systems may be duplicated in future Caisis releases, but you always have the option to turn off functions that are already covered by other systems at your organization. |
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Where
can I download Caisis? |
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Caisis
can be downloaded here.
Downloading the application requires a quick registration and acknowledgement of the GPL open-source license. Original source code and documentation can also be found at this location. |
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How
do I install Caisis? |
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Caisis
comes with an install file that walks you through the process of setting up the application. In addition, installation documentation can be downloaded from the same location listed above. |
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Is
Caisis available in my language? |
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At the moment, Caisis is available only in English. As the project matures, other languages will become available. If you would like to contribute to the project or expand on the language capabilities of the application, feel free to contact the Caisis Admin at participate@caisis.org. |
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Does
Caisis work with the Mac or Linux operating systems? |
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Caisis is being designed with Web standards in mind. As such, modern standard-compliant browsers should work fine with the application, regardless of the operating system you are running. If you are running Linux or Mac in your server environments, then you may want to review the details of the Mono Project. |
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Version 1.0 of the Mono project (released June 30, 2004) should allow Caisis to run in the UNIX environment of Linux and Mac OS X. The Caisis team has not yet fully tested the application in this environment, but plans are underway for complete testing in the near future. |
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Where
did the name Caisis come from? |
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Caisis is a derivative of the Italian word, Casus, which means "opportunity" or "event." Because that word was already trademarked, we decided to change the spelling slightly to Caisis, which carries the same meaning. This name also resembles an acronym for Cancer Information System. |
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I
still have questions! |
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If
you still have questions or are interested in Caisis,
please contact the Caisis Team at info@caisis.org. We will get back to you as soon as possible. |
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