Appendices

3. Initial views and profiling of participants

Experience of using FLOSS

While the invitation to participate in the meeting was aimed primarily at people who the organisers thought would have knowledge, experience, and/or interest in the possible application of open source solutions within healthcare, we also did not necessarily seek to exclude those who might be interested in the concept and wish to know more, and who could contribute to a debate based on their wider experience of the health services in their country.

This is reflected in the answers to the question ‘what is your use of open source software’:

everyday user of FLOSS 54%

occasional user of FLOSS 8%

have used FLOSS 8%

virgin in use of FLOSS 31%

The mixed nature of the participants, and that they were not all diehard open source evangelists, is illustrated in the answers to the following question:

What open source software are you aware of using –a) healthcare applications, b) other applications, or c) operating systems?

all three 31%

a) and b) only 0%

b) and c) only 35%

c) and a) only 0%

healthcare applications only 0%

other applications only 4%

operating systems only 4%

no experience 27%

Interests in use of FLOSS

Replies in response to the question ‘how would you describe your primary interest in open source for healthcare’:

Clinical interest 23%

Management or policy interest 23%

Academic interest 27%

Business interest 19%

Patient interest 8%

Decision-making roles of participants

In the choice of IT health solutions, participants' roles were:
To make decisions only in my organisation 31%
to influence outside my organisation 42%
Both of the above 15%
Neither of the above 12%

Initial view on potential use of FLOSS in healthcare

As part of the background profiling of participants, they were asked at the start of the meeting 'do you think that it is important that some healthcare software should be open source?'

yes 73%

no 8%

undecided 19%

They were then asked 'how would you describe your ideal vision for the future use of software in healthcare?'

entirely open source 31%

significant percentage open source 42%

includes some open source 15%

free from open source 0%

no strong view 11%

The final question at this point, posed in light of developments in the UK towards the implementation of the NHS Care Records System, asked the participants 'what is your view on the potential application of a universal open source Electronic Health Record system?'

desirable and achievable 50%

desirable but unachievable 15%

achievable but not desirable 0%

undesirable and unachievable 4%

if we end up with a system that works, what does it matter? 31%

Note: where percentages are given, due to rounding they may not total 100%. In addition, not all participants may have voted on every question.

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Copyright (c) 2004 IMIA Open Source Working Group and British Computer Society Health Informatics Committee

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