MESSAGE
| DATE | 2011-03-08 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Free Software Healthcare initiative
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http://www.pharmacychoice.com/News/article.cfm?Article_ID=691388
Open Source an open goal for Health Care IT - Research finds both cost
and security benefits
Globally the sale of health care information systems is a multibillion
dollar industry. The vast costs, frequent failed systems, and inability
of systems to talk to each other regularly attract media comment.
However policy makers still shy away from a class of software, Open
Source, that could address many of these problems, because of worries
about the safety and security of Open Source systems. Now new research
by the University of Warwicks Institute for Digital Healthcare, and the
Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education at UCL
Medical School, finds that Open Source software may actually be more
secure than its often more expensive alternatives.
Dr Carl Reynolds of UCLs Centre for Health Informatics and
Multiprofessional Education said: Software bought or otherwise
distributed under a licence which require it to come bundled with the
source code and the right to freely edit, reuse, and share it is called
free or open source software. Such a licensing arrangement leaves the
buyer in a very strong position when compared with the usual proprietary
licences. The buyer is less prone to lock-in, where a buyer loses the
ability to switch software products because of the use of proprietary
data formats or restrictive licensing conditions. When the buyer chooses
an open or free licence he or she can take the code to a rival code
developer if they offer a better deal. If the code is in the public
domain, and the user and programmer community are engaged, then the
buyer can profit from more people inspecting and fixing the code leading
to higher quality source code and in turn software.
Professor Jeremy Wyatt of the University of Warwicks Institute for
Digital Healthcare said: Critics of Open Source often argue that,
because the code is public, an attacker can more easily find and exploit
vulnerabilities. But our work at the University of Warwick and UCL shows
that the evidence does not bear this out and in fact Open Source
Software (OSS) may be more secure than other systems.
Proprietary systems often rely on a security through obscurity argument,
ie that systems that hide their inner workings from potential attackers
are more secure. However security through obscurity alone completely
fails when code is disclosed or otherwise discovered using tools such as
debuggers or dissemblers. Worse, it has been suggested that the cloak of
obscurity tends to encourage poor-quality code. Opening the source
allows independent assessment of the security of a system, makes bug
patching easier and more likely, and forces developers to spend more
effort on the quality of their code.
The researchers also refute the argument that using Open Source Software
(OSS) is inherently riskier because one automatically becomes liable for
any failings of the software. They say that typically a large
organization will pay a contractor for an OSS implementation and support
package. Many contractors providing OSS implementation and support offer
legal indemnity to clients in exactly the same way as proprietary
vendors.
The researchers paper entitled Open Source, Open Standards, and Health
Care Information Systems by: Dr Carl J Reynolds, Centre for Health
Informatics and Multiprofessional Education, UCL Medical School and
Professor Jeremy Wyatt of the University of Warwicks Institute for
Digital Healthcare, has just been published in the Journal of Medical
Internet Research at http://www.jmir.org/2011/1/e24/
Notes for Editors:
The Institute of Digital Healthcare (IDH) is an institute within the
University of Warwick, and is a five-year 4 million collaboration set up
in partnership with NHS West Midlands, and two University of Warwick
Departments - WMG and Warwick Medical School (WMS). The IDH aims to
improve peoples health and wellbeing through the use of innovative
digital technologies. By combining the talents and resources from WMG,
WMS, NHS West Midlands, NHS Trusts, private enterprises, charities and
other bodies, the IDH will design and deliver appropriate care solutions
that will have a real benefit to patients and their care support
networks.
The Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education
(CHIME) is a multidisciplinary centre, drawn together through a common
focus on research, education, organisational change and technological
innovation, linking information quality and governance for health. CHIME
has expertise and undertakes research within units for clinical
information management, telemedicine and decision support, clinical
bioinformatics, education, training and professional development in
health informatics, educational resource development and organisational
development, quality and governance of health care.
For further Information please contact:
Professor Jeremy Wyatt Institute of Digital Healthcare International
Digital Laboratory University of Warwick Tel: +44 (0)2476 151262 Email:
Jeremy.Wyatt-at-warwick.ac.uk
Dr Carl J Reynolds Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional
Education UCL Medical School Tel: +44 (0)7737904807 Email:
carl.reynolds-at-nhs.net
Peter Dunn, Head of Communications University of Warwick +44(0)2476
523708 mobile/cell +44(0)7767 655860 p.j.dunn-at-warwick.ac.uk
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