European health providers have a longer track record with health open source solutions than healthcare providers in the United States. Many European healthcare providers have adopted open source health software systems earlier than health organizations in the US. Why is this?
It appears that American healthcare providers are more apprehensive and unsure of open source health systems than many European healthcare organizations because of a lack of a large, widespread adoption of open source. It was in 2006 that the United Kingdom's United Health System not only openly acknowledged health open source solutions, but they actually also funded their health initiatives for the implementation of open source software. Furthermore, when researching the beginnings of many health open source solutions, there is a direct link to their creation by Europeans.
Once again, what has caused this within the healthcare open source movement? What has caused these trend differences with regards to health open source adoptions in the US vs. Europe? Is there simply a larger, more robust community in Europe that paves the way for wide acceptance of open source softwares? Or is it a different cost structure within the healthcare field that causes more Europeans to lean towards open source solutions?
These are fundamental questions that need to be answered to better understanding the open source movement in the United States and also whether or not the health open source movement can truly gain momentum in the United States. Perhaps it is simply the European government recognition of the open source software that has led to its success in many European countries. With the conclusion of the health open source software study in 2010 that is being conducted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, perhaps the open source community can gain true recognition if the US government openly states that it is a viable option for health IT solutions.
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