Application Integration for Free Open Source Medical Software: A Case Study

Introduction: This paper presents a specific case study of integration between Free and Open Source applications. Methods: The case study does not use an existing system but one with simulated data. This approach allows emphasis on the underlying issues. This case study integrates an open source Content Management System with an open source native XML database using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). Results: An architectural pattern for integrating open source medical applications is presented with a working demonstration system. This architectural pattern is evaluated against a list of goals for health care information systems taken from the health care informatics literature and is found to be consistent with those goals . Discussion: Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) offers a rich development environment for health care information systems and application integration offers way to build effective systems in a modular fashion without duplication of effort.