Webreach, Inc. are the makers of the Mirth software and appliance. Briefly, Mirth is a Free/Open Source HL7 interoperability stack which also provides multiple other services such as security. The company packages the stack and services into nifty hardware appliances and provides paid support. They are a company to watch.

The company appears to be profitable and the Mirth appliance is increasingly used by many health care organizations such as WorldVistA because of its convenience, remarkable breadth of function and Open Source nature. It may very well become one of the first major Free/Open Source health IT company success stories.

The company is a 2007 recipient of the Linux Medical News Freedom Award. It will be interesting to watch what happens to this company in the next few years. Will it be bought out, will it IPO, will it continue to succeed on its own?