Originally published on JS PACS, May 27, 2009.
The government recently released open-source software designed to allow federal agencies and private organizations to transfer healthcare information between their systems.
I am a fan of open source, but I have some initial concerns about the government running various aspects of our proposed national healthcare record on open-source software.
If the software is open source, I fear it will be more difficult to protect the healthcare information transferred through it. More people would have access to the software, or be able to create hooks into it for various purposes. Additionally, could the resources needed to manage an open-source project like this become more expensive than privately developed software built under a government contract? Remember, open-source software has hidden costs in the specialized people needed to manage it.
On the other hand, open source certainly offers flexibility and ingenuity, as there can be many people working on various aspects of the system, designing robust and customized solutions for almost any scenario.
Again, I am a fan of open-source software, but without all the details yet, it is hard to know whether open source is really the right choice for the government. Regardless, it will be interesting to see how this develops in the next year or two.