"CHOS-WG"
Collaborations in Healthcare Open Source
Working Group

• Introduction:
• Seeking effective healthcare solutions, would you like to receive support from Free/Libre Open Source Software communities ?
  And if yes, would you allow partners to access your own additional developments and know-how ?
• This web site explain the Open Source approach and why it is particularly important in healthcare. The main benefits of Open Source are to share software modules, to master the transparency about what the software is really doing, to avoid dependency from any single provider, as well to limit the costs.
• The strategy, as explained below, is to make a clear distinction between at one side pure software developement issues and and at the other side support services and operational activities.
  
• This working group is developed by members of the ISFTeH, International Society for Telemedicine, as well the LIFOSS Open Source Working Groups of the EFMI and IMIA.
   
  
• Main objectives:
• Support of multidisciplinary collaborations between the care provider in charge of the same patient, accross distances and organizational barriers.
• Promotion of technical collaborations in Open Source in the scope of the International Society for Telemedicine.
   
  
• Sofware:
• Main healthcare requirements
• Intended scenarios for patient care and education scenario.
  
• Review of currently available software in Open Source.
  
• Proposed Solutions based on an Object Oriented Model:
• Generic component common to most actors
• Additional requirement for specialized situations.
• Experimental prototype with visal examples intended for discussions (u= "guest", p= "guest"),:
• in construction and seeking partners, contact etienne (AT) saliez.be .
  
• Technical requirements:
   
• Support Services, sustainability:
• This chapter is very important because good support is a critical condition for successful project implementations.
  
• A large set of services, from initial installation to yearly continued maintenance.
  
• Review of the conditions for sustainable support services?
   
  
• Economic model:
• Sharing Open Source know-how at international level, to be supported by private foundations and public developement projects.
  
• Traditional business of Support Services at regional level, competing for quality and prices.
   
  
• Related Links:
• The Free/Libre Open Source Track during the MEDETEL confernece on 14-16 April 2010 in Luxemburg.
  
• GNU Solidario,
• LIFOSS, Libre/Free and Open Source Software working group in the European Federation for Medical Informatics,
  
• Open Source Health Informatics working group of the IMIA.
  
• ...
   
• Contacts:
• Questions and suggestions are very welcome in order to improve the next version of this web site, particularly about requirements and dreams which could potentially be shared with other users. 
• etienne (AT) saliez.be