Foundation donates open-source HIE code
The California HealthCare Foundation donated software for an open-source health information exchange project designed to help sustain regional health information organizations.
The Oakland-based foundation provided the software to Open Health Tools, an open-source community that has established a software repository.
The code donation includes two key HIE components: a master patient index and a record locator service, according to Jonah Frohlich, the foundation’s senior program officer.
The code was originally developed for the Santa Barbara Care Data Exchange, which closed in 2006. Palamida, a company that focuses on open-source vulnerability detection, identified proprietary elements in the Santa Barbara software. Those elements have been replaced with open-source code, Frohlich explained.
Also contributing to the project is CollabNet, which specializes in collaborative software development. CollabNet facilitated the foundation’s efforts and will support all future code donations to Open Health Tools, according to a press release.
CollabNet and Palamida are both members of Open Health Tools, which is based in Asheville, N.C. Government members include the Veterans Health Administration.
“The donated software would serve as a foundation for customers and developers to use and enhance to help sustain Regional Health Information Organizations,” Frohlich said. “We are not currently working with any specific HIEs or RHIOs but hope that through this effort we can support existing and developing” RHIO clients looking for open-source solutions, he added.
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John Moore is a freelance writer based in Syracuse, N.Y. You can reach him at editor@govhealthit.com.