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

Published: March 10, 2022, 10 a.m.

In this episode, we\u2019re excited to bring you a conversation with Watson Health\u2019s 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\u2019re working in \u2014 or thinking of using \u2014 an open source environment and you have an interest in the way health records are accessed and shared, you won\u2019t want to miss this discussion.


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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