12-18-09 Community E-Newsletter/Call

From: Greg Miller [mailto:greg.miller@ourmed.org] Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 9:20 AM To: Stan Kachnowski; Alex Fotopoulos; Oleta McHenry; Florence Devouard

Bcc: Hundreds of members within the OurMed Community

Subject: Reminder: OurMed Community Conference Call Friday Dec 18th 2pm-2:30pm EST: (712) 775-7000 Code 634011# Hello and Happy Holidays!!  This will be the last OurMed Community call this year. It definitely feels as though it’s a milestone in several ways and I look forward to updating you on developing OurMed's content, website and fiscal strength. Just 30 minutes to catch you up and get you involved in this project promising a significant non-profit and unbiased contribution to medicine and consumer knowledge on health. Please join us at 2pm Eastern time. Agenda / Talking Points: A: Finances – Open Accounting B: Volunteer Recruiting Update C: Technology Update D: Year-End Fundraising Strategy and draft of the Holiday Appeal E: Accounts with OurMed - Who wants one? They're free -- forever. F: Posting on OurMed.Org G: New Articles on OurMed - What to write about? H: OurMed Pioneer Bios I: Website with Guide to Healthcare Pricing: http://www.healthcarebluebook.com/page_AdditionalPriceRsrcs.aspx Time: Friday (Today) : 2 - 2:30pm EST Call in Number : 712-775-7000 Passcode : 634011#  If you would like to opt out of these emails, please let me know. Thank you for your continued interest in the OurMed initiative--we couldn't make this happen without your participation and are grateful for you pitching in! Greg Miller, ED at OurMed.Org (212) 740-1850 OurMed YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqgYfFxEkLk   A: Finances – Open Accounting   OurMed has now fulfilled it’s end of the year goal to post our financials online. Our Accountant, TJ Anand, prepares our Statement of Activity Summary Report and posts monthly revenues and expenses by line item. By doing this, we aim to be fully transparent to create user and donor trust. Follow this link to see the finances for 2009 by month and cumulative year-to-date: http://ourmed.org/index.php/Open_Account_and_Financeshttp://ourmed.org/index.php/Open_Account_and_Finances   B: Volunteer Recruitment Update:    Thanks to Vanessa Moore, we’ve had some professional help in posting and recruiting OurMed content, tech and fundraising volunteers. The Founding Framer Program is the center of the incentive strategy. This program enables volunteers who are inspired by our mission to produce free and non-biased medical information to be OurMed Pioneers -- Individuals contributing more than 100 hours will be honored as the Founding Framers of a global health reform community on a webpage to appreciate their hard work and service to Healthcare. An OurMed Founding Framer Certificate of Appreciation will be awarded upon successful completion of 100 hours of service to the OurMed cause.  C: Technology Update:  Vincent Navarro [mailto:vincent.navarro@ourmed.org] has been doing the final run-through of the OurMed contract with our selected website vendor. We will be scheduling a design meeting in January to start the process to build the new website!

D: Year-End Fundraising Strategy &amp; the draft of the OurMed Holiday Appeal:

While many health websites already exist, the information that is provided is often times cluttered and biased by advertisers who support the site and influence its content. Government sites, though helpful, tend to be too complex for non-professionals and have limited information on controversial or alternative forms of medicine. Many current models of disseminating information such as Wikipedia do not verify the credentials of their authors. Wikipedia’s medical entries are prone to manipulation and are not reliable [3]. Moreover, in many cases you don’t know who has contributed content nor their background or expertise.

OurMed’s Goal: Having built the framework of a Medical Encyclopedia as a Phase One “Wikipedia Model” for health information, 2010 will see the launch of Phase 2 including consumer health ratings on a whole suite of features. Going beyond the public wiki approach, funds for this project will enable all health and wellness participants to sort through unreliable, outdated and irrelevant information by offering an accurate, non-partisan and free source that users can trust. By using a combination of "wiki" technology and a new layer of user preferences and experiences, we are committed to provide a free and non-commercial resource with the potential to revolutionize healthcare information as we know it.  Organizational Strength: OurMed was founded in June 2007 as a non-profit charity to benefit all health and wellness participants including healthcare facilities, physicians across all disciplines, as well as practitioners of both Eastern and Western medicines, and patients throughout the world. OurMed is governed by a Board of Directors which includes experts in Public Health, Information Technology, and the former head of Wikipedia. Florence Devouard, the former Board Chair at the Wikimedia Foundation, was a key professional in fostering a community of volunteer authors to create the "Wikipedia Encyclopedia Project" in which 75 thousand active members contributed to writing over ten million articles. Through her expertise in building online communities, Ms. Devouard helped OurMed apply the same "wiki" approach to healthcare. OurMed works with computer scientists from New York Presbyterian’s Cornell Weill Medical School, the Indian Institute of Technology, the Health Innovation &amp; Technology Lab at Columbia University Medical Center, and Carnegie Mellon/ Silicon Valley Campus to launch Phase Two in the summer of 2010–a dynamic portal that uses an algorithm to verify physician credentials. Accomplishments this year This year we built a community. We have gathered medical researchers and practitioners to discuss what they need to do their jobs better--We have queried vast numbers of healthcare participants to find out how best to allow their input, in a constructive manner. In fact, only through partnership — both participation and support — has the dream of a free and fair medical knowledge has become a reality. Whether patients with mild symptoms or of disease, students of medicine, PHd's, researchers, physicians, or friends like you, community volunteers helped make this a very exciting year. We shared ideas, creative inspiration, expertise, and designed a powerful plan to produce further development of an extensive resource of free, non-biased healthcare resource. What we’ve accomplished, working together, has been meritorious and profound. Wisdom of Crowds This past year, we have built up a community of medical professionals and interested reform minded innovators from around the world--OurMed is now poised to take advantage of new “wisdom of crowds” model for innovation on the Internet in which collective knowledge is thought to be superior to the intelligence of the few. Nevertheless, not all crowds are wise. Recent cases and new research suggests that crowd-sourcing is only truly successful when it is focused on a specific task and when the most effective collaborators are involved [4]. OurMed.Org is a long-term, worldwide initiative to develop an online collaborative source of health and medical information for medical professionals and the general public. With your support, we intend to make OurMed a repository of up-to-date unbiased medical information, contributed and maintained by health experts around the world and freely available to the general public. Unlike Wikipedia, which allows anyone to modify pages, OurMed content creators and editors are required to have an M.D., D.O. or Ph.D. in a biomedical field; each contributor will have an author page detailing their qualifications and background.

The goal of The OurMed Project is to evolve a new model for how the world accesses medical knowledge. Launched in October 2008, the website is largely an encylocpedic Wiki of medical information. The OurMed knowledge base will consist of articles divided into two pages: a “Plain English” page for the lay public and a “Clinical” page for professional users.

OurMed will allow Professionals to Network and allow users to find and maintain contacts. Designed as a LinkedIn for the medical community, in addition to direct user-to-user messages, the platform will employ a Facebook-like Wall to communicate with other users, working groups and associations. Lastly, OurMed Communities provide a section for medical experts and patients to share information and communicate inside OurMed.

Over the last ten years on the Internet, remarkable breakthroughs have taken place in collaborative knowledge sharing and communication that have yet to be provided to the medical community. We’ve added to these breakthroughs, adapted them for medicine and health, and are putting them in one free platform for the medical community. The OurMed Platform will continue to expand as the medical community finds even more uses for it.

Impact on Healthcare Consumers: To the healthcare recipient “clean” (unbiased) and “clear” information on medicine, health and the body will allow for cost savings. Users will be able to share preferences and personal experiences marking an exciting milestone in the “Democratization of Healthcare”. Addressing the need to improve disparities throughout the healthcare system, user ratings will establish dynamic standards of accuracy. Users will then be able to provide location-specific queries of the most effective drug and treatment options.

Benefits to the Medical Community : OurMed will serve the medical community by creating a professional repository of data. Medicine will be fairly represented. As emerging issues are debated, OurMed will be in effect a clearing house of professional research and publications. Our neutral-point-of-view policy will ensure credible, unbiased medical information driven by the medical community. On a global level, we are thrilled at the prospect of enhancing medical knowledge by providing data from clinical trials around the world, thereby providing access to cross-cultural references of disease conditions and treatments. The coding platform will be open-source with free license and entirely free to the end-user. To maintain a high level of ethical accountability and transparency, all project and organizational financial reports will be posted online. The net effect will be no less than the advancement of medical knowledge. This is an ambitious project and it has the potential to have a global impact. We aim to launch by the Summer of 2010 and expect tens of thousands of unique visitors by the end of the year.

Today, we extend a hand to you. We ask for your financial support, but also — equally important — we extend a hand inviting you to join us, join the movement this year, share the excitement. With your tax-deductable contribution OurMed will impact the lives of millions around the world. Every single dollar makes a huge difference. Be a part of this historical project. As partners, we can do amazing things!

A short 3 minute video is available on YouTube at this link:[Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqgYfFxEkLk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqgYfFxEkLk]

With your help, we can further our work on this groundbreaking project which aims to significantly advance healthcare innovation. A donation of $10 or more will go a long way and is very appreciated.

Thank you, (your signature here)    ''' E: Accounts with OurMed – Who wants one? They’re free – forever.''' OurMed's accounts are free, easy to get and really make you apart of the community. Be one of the early pioneers to own one. Click here to get started now: http://ourmed.org/index.php?title=Special:Userlogin&amp;type=signup&amp;returnto=Main_Page Once you have one, you can share your background with the community by filling out the User page.

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F: Posting on OurMed.Org: Now that you have an account--Use it to nudge the OurMed movement forward! You can write about nearly anything, just keep your comments about new ideas, health and medicine.--It's really important that OurMed gets off the ground using a communities collaborative approach to building it, just as Wikipedia did 7 years ago. Please click on this link to make a small post about whatever's on your mind. You can suggest articles, design or features that you'd like to see on the site. http://ourmed.org/index.php/New_Ideas_for_Site Most Active Authors in the past month are:

Drsjpdc T1 Gmiller Amankwatra Skywalker Pharos Jrzeth Rajiv.maskara

G: New Articles on OurMed – What to write about? Changes or additions can be made easily with our WYSYWIG editor (what you see is what you get), making it much easier than Wikipedia and cutting the volume ramp up rate to the new site significantly faster. At times posting new material my be difficult to give attributions for so it may be easier to publish previously published work

Alternatively, you can choose content from one of the many free content ("copy left") sites such as much of the content on:

1) NIH's National Library of Medicine and PubMed 2) Wikipedia  3)  Medpedia  4)  GanFyd  : (original medical wiki site that says Medpedia copied them and boasts 2000 site visitors per day) 5) Others? To post a new article, simply goto: www.ourmed.org/index.php/ARTICLENAME

H: OurMed Pioneer Bios:

Vincent Navarro (OURMED TECH) 212 444 2633 Research Specialist @ Weill Medical College Online Database Manager @ Scientists Without Borders

I have done basic science research for over 15 years in the area of prostate cancer. During this time I have had the privilege of working on the development of monoclonal antibodies targeting prostate cancer from concept through clinical trials. This has afforded me a keen insight into development process of therapeutic drugs. In addition, a strong interest in computers has seen me pursue a graduate degree in computer science in addition to my undergraduate in Chemistry. As a result I have designed and developed a clinical trials management system in my laboratory. I am currently the Online Database Manager for Scientists Without Borders. There, I am responsible for the administration of the database and development of the web portal.

Eileen McGinn, MPH, Certificate in Aging (OURMED CONTENT) qedeileen@aol.com

Worked in international health and development for 25 years, including several years living in Africa and Asia. Currently PT Research Manager for Nathan Kline Institute, working on the interrelation of poverty and mental health and health equity for persons with disabilities. PT tutor for immigrant high school students at Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School. Volunteer work for many different agencies, including health, disability, immigrant, women's, peace, international. Have written for various websites on health issues. Especially interested in translating technical work into comprehensible language, community-based participatory research and the Capabilities Framework for development and justice.

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Geoff Hayden, MD (OURMED CONTENT, RECRUITMENT)  geoffhayden@gmail.com 615.479.6499 (Cell)

I am a practicing Emergency Physician, splitting time between NYC and South Carolina. I have been in academic practice since 2005 (Residency at Vanderbilt University, Fellowship at University of Pennsylvania), with an emphasis on resident education and emergency ultrasound. My interest in OurMed.org stems from a dissatisfaction regarding the abysmal state of preventive care and a general lack of health care coverage in the U.S. I see OurMed.org as an essential resource to connect patients to health information and health providers.

I imagine my role with OurMed.org in terms of producing content, recruiting other physicians for ongoing contribution, and assisting Greg with the development of a user-friendly, comprehensive clearinghouse of useful health care information.

- Geoffrey E. Hayden, MD, FAAEM, FACEP Adjunct Clinical Professor Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Emergency Medicine Nashville, TN Piedmont Medical Center Emergency Department Attending 222 South Herlong Ave Rock Hill, SC 29732

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Vanessa Moore (OURMED RECRUITMENT) MVanellen@aol.com 914-665-4534 (home) 914-751-9758 (cell)

Vanessa Moore is a native New Yorker who brings 7 years recruiting experience to the Ourmed recruitment effort. She would like to leverage her experience recruiting volunteers to Ourmed, a forward thinking and progressive approach to disseminating unbiased healthcare information to the public. Sh914-665-4534 (home) 914-751-9758 (cell) MVanellen@aol.com e has worked in both corporate and nonprofit settings including a consulting engagement for the Department of Education and most recently at the Westchester Independent Living Center, an advocacy group for people with disabilities. She studied Social Sciences at the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University.

John Volpe (OURMED TECH) johnvolpe1@yahoo.com 516-221-4692

My background is primarilyin accounting, finance and business operations, primarily in the financial services industry. While I'm not a technical professional, I have participated in and managed numerous technical and business projects, primarily involving financial systems. I also worked as a management consultant for a Virginia based company that I did consulting work for the federal and state governments. I am currently retired. In addition to playing tennis and engaging in other physical activities, I volunteer my time and an Account Director with an NYC based organization that provides service grants in the form of a volunteer project team that manages strategy, financial, marketing and development projects for non-profits. My interest in this project is really from the perspective of someone who is a consumer of medical information and is interested in the efficient delivery of medical information to the public.

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Greg Miller, Executive Director at OurMed greg.miller@ourmed.org 212-740-1850

Have 17 years of Corporate Finance and Marketing experience for Fortune 500 companies including nine years abroad (Germany, England and Japan). I've been here in New York since 1996, always passionate about developing new brands, ideas and products. Did Marketing Analysis for ANA, a Japanese Airline, Finance for Cablevision's HD Satellite business and Revlon. Since 2005, I've been inspired by non-profits, created New York's Dance Parade and have worked on OurMed since the Fall of 2008. I'm inspired by the transparent, non-profit approach to the democratization of healthcare. OurMed has a small office at Columbia Medical Center's Audubon Business and Technology Building--Come by and visit us!

3960 Broadway (Entrance on 166th Street) Suite 301 o (212) 740-1850 c (917) 627-7155 greg.miller@ourmed.org

OurMed's Board of Directors:

Florence Devouard, OurMed Board Member fdevouard@anthere.org

Florence Devouard served as one of the elected representatives to the Board starting June 2004, and was the Chair of the Board from October 21, 2006 until July 16th, 2008. Florence was born in Versailles (France). She grew up in Grenoble, and has been living since then in several French cities, as well as Antwerpen in Belgium and Tempe in Arizona. She holds two masters, one in Agricultural Sciences (a 5-year degree in agronomical engineering (Diplome d'Ingénieur Grande Ecole) from ENSAIA and the other a postgraduate degree (DEA) in Genetics and Biotechnologies from INPL.She has been working in public research, first in flower plant genetic improvement, and second in microbiology to study the feasability of polluted soil bioremediation. She was employed until 2005 in a French company, to conceive decision-making tools in sustainable agriculture. She is now a consultant in Internet Communication Strategy. She joined the Wikipedia adventure in February 2002 and is known as a contributor under the pseudonym Anthere. Florence is 39, and lives in Clermont Ferrand with her husband Bertrand and her three children, Anne-Gaëlle aged nine, William eleven and Thomas two. On May 16 2008, Florence was made a knight in the French National Order of Merit, proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as "chair of an international foundation"

 Alex Fotopoulos, OurMed Board Secretaryalex@broadwaylawoffices.com  Alex Fotopoulos has served on the board since October 2008. He attended Rutgers College in New Brunswick, NJ and then received his Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern Univesity in Los Angeles, California in 1990. He has experience as a litigation attorney and as an entrepreneur. He has held held positions as an attorney and as part of the management team of such high technology companies including AT&amp;T Wireless, T-mobile, Nextel, Metricom, GTE Internetworking as well as small local start-up ventures. He is a licensed Attorney in New York, New Jersey and California.

Stan Kachnowski, OurMed Board Chair swk16@hitlab.org Stan Kachnowski is one of America’s distinguished scholars in healthcare information policy and management having taught e-health and healthcare e-business for nearly 20 years. He has authored over 100 scholarly papers and presentations for the world’s leading journals and societies in healthcare technology management, informatics and e-governance. In 2003 he was elected as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Medicine in the United Kingdom for his research with the National Health Service in using handhelds to track patient data. In 1996 he was elected to the US-based College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. Stan is currently a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India.

Oleta McHenry, OurMed Board Treasurer Newsgirl_fl@hotmail.com Oleta McHenry was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Ohio. After graduating high school, she briefly attended Wright State University in Dayton, studying Political Science. She transferred to St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, FL and received her A.A. degree in Liberal Arts. Oleta earned her B.S. in Accounting from Florida Metropolitan University in Clearwater, FL in 2006. Oleta worked for the Pulitzer prize winning newspaper, St. Petersburg Times as a circulation manager. After receiving her degree in accounting, she worked briefly in the insurance industry before joining the Wikimedia Foundation as the fulltime accountant of record. While at the Wikimedia Foundation, Oleta helped put in place accounting practices that would help the company in growth and development. She did not follow Wikimedia to San Francisco and now works for a large medical supply company managing the General Ledger for several regions within the United States. Oleta resides in St. Petersburg, FL where she works as an accountant.