Why a NDA and why we need you!

The Foundation has received many inquiries about why an OpenSource project needs both a CLA (Contributor License Agreement) and an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement).

We are a small diversified group with contributors from around the globe. During past releases when we did not request and NDA from our community, adversarial discussions, infighting and attempted code forking during the development phase took away our ability to bring to the community an integrated and useful piece of software.

We hope that by requesting an NDA until release, we can channel our energies into development, use of the latest and best available Open Source tools, and involve as much of our community as possible. FreeMED Software Foundation is committed to bringing freely available open source software to the communities.

We have not found that the NDA has in any way hampered or delayed development nor use of available segments of FreeMED. For our Alpha testers, those who are implementing 0.9.x in live environments, we hope we can support you and bring you a good experience with FreeMED.

If you have an interest in programming, please contact Jeff .

Several times in this column I've made requests for help. If you have an interest in Clinical paradigms or outcomes we need you now! Please include in your response to Dr. Bradley the following things:

1. Your area of medical expertise
2. Your area of interest
3. Specific areas of development you'd like to help with.

How would this work? Imagine you are working in Orthopedics. You may need a form (computerized) to evaluate your patients with shoulder injuries. You would develop (with our help) a format for the injury, a clinical path, a decision tree, a group of outcomes. This 'form' would be available to you on the computer, within FreeMED. These forms can be posted to a forum (here) so that other colleagues can add, comment and build upon them improving

• Our understanding of the disease processes
• Reflection of new and evolving technologies
• Comparisons with tried-and-true methods
• Ability to have true peer review of our clinical pathways and forms
• Put into the hands of physicians tools to evaluate their own practice patterns and ROI. (from the financial side).

The important part here is that we physicians , not 3rd parties with bean counters, but we the persons with patient interest in mind, would have the ability to focus and direct treatments, eventually, having enough patient based and outcomes data, not just 'how much it cost the insurer data' to make valid decisions and influence policy (eventually) with this data.

More to the point, it is you, the members of the community, who make these decisions. We want orthopedists working on orthopedic problems, gastroenterologists working on GI problems and so on.

Of great importance to the project are the primary care providers. We are currently working on a referral and tracking module that will reflect the movement of your patients with in the medical community. We need your help with that design, your input with regard to what is important in your practices.

Now is the time. Come out come out where ever you are.

Irving J Buchbinder,
Director, FreeMED Software Foundation