Public Health Delivery System Survey

Check out this survey released this April 2009. NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health teamed up to conduct the survey. This survey illustrates the results of the public's perception of health IT systems. It is clear that patients believe that they will have improved care with the advent of interoperable health care systems. For example, over 70% of the patients polled believe that it is either "Very Likely" or "Somewhat Likely" that EMR's will enable their doctors to do a better job coordinating their care. However, even though it is clear that the public believe EMR's to be beneficial to their health, many are still concerned with the security of their medical records online. It is shown that more than 75% believe that it is "Very Likely" or "Somewhat Likely" that an unauthorized person would get access to their medical records. Therefore, many advances must be made to ensure security of the systems as well as quell the fears of the public about the security of their electronic medical records.

How do open source health systems play a role with regards to this survey? Perhaps, open source health systems play two important roles. The first is with the ease in which an open source system can be accessed and implemented today. There is an apparent perception that EMR's are needed and are needed as soon as possible. That is where open source can play a strong role. Open source health systems can be easily accessed with no need to worry about overcoming licensing fees to get the system implemented. Therefore, the need for a health IT system can be met faster with open source systems.

Also, the second role that open source health systems can play deals with the development of robust open source health communities. The larger the communities open source health systems form, the better the system becomes. Consequently, the security issue is addressed by greater numbers and can possibly be fixed faster than with a proprietary system. The assumption being made here, though, is that the community is fully engaged in improving and securing the open source health system. This assumption holds true with organizations like OpenVistA and MedSphere that are fully engaged and constantly improving.