This report provides a market assessment of ambulatory electronic health record (HER) systems that are available under open-source licensing. A number of open-source EHRs, commonly referred to as free and open-source software (FOSS), have emerged over the past five to ten years. The goal of this evaluation was to determine whether available FOSS systems are suitable for widespread adoption and effective use as ambulatory EHRs. To this end, the authors investigated a number of existing FOSS EHR projects to evaluate their organizational structures, development communities, functional capabilities, and available implementation and support services. The evaluation also analyzed the potential advantages of FOSS EHR systems for physician practices, as well as the limitations and general challenges of this alternative approach to acquiring clinical information technology.
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