Open source VistA EHR: On again, off again, partly on again

CMS has released an evaluation of the Veterans Administration electronic health record (EHR) software. From the press release:

The evaluation version will be distributed by qualified vendors and evaluated for usability, effectiveness, implementation and potential for what is known as interoperability, or the ability to communicate, exchange, and use data with other systems and software. As a result of this evaluation, software vendors will be able to further improve the software and develop a version of VistA-Office EHR that is certified in accordance with a process recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The press release isn't too exciting and doesn't promise when the software will be ready for widespread use. It also goes out of its way to point out that the software itself won't be completely free, and that offices will need all the hardware, support, and maintenance they'd need for any other system.The communications about the software's release date have been confusing and not confidence inspiring. See here and here. I don't expect this EHR to have any substantial impact on adoption or affordability.