Free software can strengthen the US healthcare system

Few people who have interacted with the US healthcare system can report a stress-free and cost-effective experience, no matter as a patient or provider. The reasons for the anemic healthcare system are broad, including the high cost of care and insufficient number of medical practitioners. Other problems are less quantitative, like increasing distrust in providers and treatments and limited preventive care. Free software, such as GNU Health (a free software hospital management information system), has the power to alleviate some of the problems present in the US healthcare system.

The perception that profitability outweighs patient interest, as well as leaking of healthcare data to companies like Google, among other factors, have led to a 31.4% drop in trust in healthcare providers. Some of this distrust can be blamed on a lack of transparency, which free software can greatly help with. When medical practitioners use tech that runs on free software, their patients can be much more confident that the software works in their best interest. You can examine (or ask someone else) if the health record management system or telehealth software is built in consideration of your health instead of profit margins.

You shouldn't have to worry about your freedom at the doctor's office.

With free software, you can also confirm if your medical history is sufficiently protected. When software is written for the benefit of the patient, there is much less risk of patient medical history becoming a commodity, and more trust from patients. It is the ethical duty of healthcare providers to secure this sensitive information from those who would abuse it. As a plus side for providers, funds (and time) spent on medical data management can be reduced if every patient's information is kept on a single, secure national database. Using free software for managing medical records is the best choice because it builds trust with patients and instills a sense of reliability, which leads to better health outcomes.

When people trust their healthcare providers, they're much more likely to engage in preventive strategies, many of which nowadays include technology in some form or another. Preventive healthcare technology, such as wellness dashboards and early disease detection devices, must respect each person's user freedom and privacy, especially since many programs have access to an individual's biology and entire health history. We should not have to choose between living in freedom and living without disease, and must demand healthcare tech that supports both needs.

We also must advocate for spending more of our financial resources on actual healthcare instead of over-the-top fees for countless proprietary programs. The cost of care was about $4.9 trillion USD in 2023, or $14,570 per person, between private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and personal out-of-pocket costs in the US alone. While medical software doesn't make up the entire price tag, switching to free software could reduce how much is spent overall. If healthcare providers switched to running free software, they wouldn't be beholden to arbitrary fees or forced updates. There would be no need to rely on proprietary software that might not be compatible, expire quickly, or deliberately obstruct repairs for any technician that isn't proprietor approved. Free software is free as in freedom and therefore not always gratis, yet it has the ability to reduce costs in addition to guaranteeing boundless freedom to anyone who uses it, including healthcare workers.

Adopting free software throughout the entire healthcare industry could also mean reducing the staffing shortage. In 2023, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 65,766 qualified applications were turned away from nursing programs due to insufficient clinical placement sites, faculty, preceptors, classroom space, and budget constraints. Instead of trying to fund expansion of solely in-person nursing programs, we could strengthen and increase remote education opportunities with free software. If remote healthcare education runs on free software, it would be more capable of being tailored to student needs. As opposed to proprietary software, free software acknowledges the freedom of students to do what they are supposed to be doing — learning and applying that knowledge to trusting patients nationwide.

The US healthcare system can't be fixed with a single solution, but free software can mitigate some of the problems and make it stronger. Whether you're a patient, medical professional, or insurer, you can talk with others about the difference that free software can make in healthcare. An ethical and sustainable healthcare system powered by free software is much more fitting for a free society than one run on proprietary software could ever be.

"A patient exam room at an urgent care clinic and doctor’s office in North Carolina, United States #6" © 2025 by Harrison Keely. This image is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.