applications. Sure, there are standards like HL7, but they do not
really help much when it comes to achieving interoperability of
systems. That's not a criticism of HL7, rather an acknowledgment that
its goals are different. It provides a framework from within which
interoperability can be achieved (much as SOAP does for web services),
but does very little when it comes to actually providing a mechanism
for ensuring interoperability v3 does somewhat more in this regard by
defining the RIM and CDA framework. But ultimately, the real issue is
that how to develop standards for interoperability between healthcare
systems remains an open problem -- we just don't know how to do it
(yet).
I'm less than enthusiastic about the idea that interoperability should
be achieved by having everyone run the same (open source) applications
beccause it just dodges the issue: If everyone is running the same
code, well then yes, of cours, they'll be interoperable. But that is an
empty sort of success. Similarly, it is fine to say that I am free to
peruse the source code of an application and thus learn how it works
and what I need to do to integrate with it, but why should it be
necessary? Again the suggestion that I need to "use the source" (to
borrow a chapter title from a book I read years ago, and one that still
bothers me) is preposterous. Yes, that is one option that open source
makes available to me, but it should be an option of last resort! If
someone wants to learn to drive, should I had them a wrench and say:
Well, take a look and see how the car works. It's an "open source" car,
so you're in luck. If I sound a little passionate about this...well,
maybe it's the result of spnding too many years reading through other
people's code because that was my only option when it came to trying to
figure out what they were doing, and what is going to take to enhance
(or build interfaces with) their code.
===
Gregory Woodhouse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Metaphors be with you.
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