[ Thanks to Michelle
Head for this link. ]
“While projects like Free Practice Management, or FreePM are
rapidly hurdling one obstacle after another to get their system
into clinical use, a few stumbling blocks to complete acceptance
remain.”
“New organizations are springing up on the Internet with the
intent to remove those obstacles, enabling open source to tackle
the complex problems of medical informatics in its own unique
style. Joseph Dal Molin is a consultant for the Minoru Development
Corporation, sponsor of the Open Source Health Care Alliance
(OSHCA). OSCHA promotes the open source model as a solution to
existing problems with health care information systems.”
“Dal Molin believes one roadblock to open source acceptance
in the medical field is prejudicial thinking. “As customers, we’ve
adapted to a commercial software model,” Dal Molin said, “and that
mindset won’t permit them to see this as an opportunity. Innovation
is becoming free, and people have to get past this initial thing of
quality equaling money.”