I guess @rcrichton is best to answer , but I can try.
OpenHIM and Apache Kafka are both systems that can be used to manage the flow of data between different systems. However, they are designed to serve different purposes and have different strengths and weaknesses.
OpenHIM provides a centralized and flexible way of integrating health information systems. It provides a range of features for managing health information exchange, including support for security, auditing, and routing.
Apache Kafka, on the other hand, is designed to handle high volume, high throughput, and real-time data streams. It can be used to process and analyze data in real-time and to publish and subscribe to streams of records.
OpenHIM and Apache Kafka can complement each other. OpenHIM can provide the central coordination and management for health information exchange, while Apache Kafka can provide the underlying event streaming and processing capabilities. The two systems can be integrated to provide a complete solution for health information exchange that combines the strengths of both systems.
it’s worth noting that while OpenHIM can support message queuing, it is primarily not a message queuing system in and of itself