The commoditization of software in health care is a growing trend. For some years, medical device vendors have been building products on Linux, and the VA's VistA application is available as open source (and getting market traction too).

This story
reports that HHS plans an open source set-aside for one of the six
contracts it wants to award for prototypes of a Nationwide Health
Information Network (NHIN).

HHS, in a July 1 amendment to its request for proposals for the NHIN,
said it will set aside one unrestricted award for open-source software
which meets the following criteria: free redistribution, inclusion of
source code, permission for modifications and non-specific licensing.

The use of open source software impacts both vendors and users. Have
you developed a strategy to effectively deal with this coming wave of
commoditization?

[Hat tip: iHealtBeat]