'Open' Cloud Computing & Health IT Systems

Over the next decade, many health IT systems are going to take advantage of 'Cloud Computing' technology. Just as many of health IT systems are now incorporating open source software into their architecture, 'open' cloud computing solutions will begin to be adopted. This will be especially true of those health care organizations pursuing and/or implementing an application service provider (ASP) type solution.

Some of the 'open' Cloud Computing' products that are candidates for use in enabling access to electronic health record (EHR) or personal health record (PHR) systems from anywhere in the world via the Internet include the following:

• Eucalyptus
• OpenNebula
• Hadoop
• CloudStack
• OpenStack
• openQRM
• Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud

Research indicates that within the next few years over 80% of cloud computing will be powered by open source solutions. Many health care organizations initially come to open source for cost reasons, but then become impressed with the quality, reliability, interoperability, and the flexibility of open source solutions.

Again, key areas within health care where we’re going to see cloud computing technology come heavily into play is with EHR and PHR systems. Open source cloud computing will make the adoption of EHR systems more affordable for smaller organizations.

Tell us about any successful projects you know of where open source 'Cloud Computing' technology has been used in a health care setting.