Category Archives: not quite vital

AAFP – Open Source or Not?

The AAFP has ratcheted up its activity on the electronic health records front, but not on open source. This press release announces alliances between the AAFP and two software companies — GE Medical Systems Information Technologies and Medplexus — were signed, sealed and delivered last week. In addition, the Academy has reached an agreement in principle with Hewlett Packard regarding hardware. This move brings into question the current status of the open source comittment made in this announcement. “The open-source model is vital to the project for two reasons: The model lowers physicians’ cost by eliminating licensing fees and allows the creation of a community of users and developers who can contribute to the software’s evolution.” Maybe ‘vital’ wasn’t quite the word they meant?