Peter Groen

See the following -

'Open' Education & Training Resources for Healthcare

There are now a tremendous number of high quality 'Open' Education & Training resources and tools that major healthcare provider organizations, universities, colleges, and medical schools ought to seriously consider exploring. These include 'open source' software, 'open access' materials (textbooks, journals, etc.), 'open data', 'open communities', and much more. Read More »

Our 'people' come first! They're our most important asset, resource, 'thing' ...

Many organizations make a point of saying their people come first. They then go on to clarify that statements by saying that people are their most important asset, their most valuable resource, ...  In fact, Personnel Departments are now generally referred to as Human Resource Departments. Does that sound like your company really thinks that 'people' come first? Do you really think they've got your back Read More »

Transitioning into a 21st Century Economy - How long will it take?

Just a quick note and observation about the global economic revolution that is well underway as we move deeper into the 21st century and the 'Information Age'.. Read More »

'Open Access' & Health Information

For a long time, the 'Open Access' movement has primarily campaigned for free and unrestricted access to scholarly information and research articles via the Internet. However, as the movement has continued to spread and pick up momentum, it has shifted its focus to also now include books, monographs, and other media.

Instead of publishers using copyright to restrict access and use of information, new open access licenses now allow authors to retain ownership of their works and grant the public the right to access and creatively reuse their works. New licences, such as those developed by Creative Commons, are now used by many open access publishers like the Public Library of Science (PLoS) and BioMed Central (BMC).

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'Open Data' & Healthcare

Even as the Open Data and Open Access movements gain momentum, there are still many organizations fighting to reverse the process, e.g. for-profit publishing houses and certain not-for-profit education and research organizations that depend on fees charged to access the data to fund their operations. 

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'Open Source' Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) Systems

Integrative medicine, as defined by National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), combines mainstream medical therapies and Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness. NCCAM reported that out-of-pocket costs for CAM by adults in the U.S. in 2009 exceeded $33 billion.

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'Open Source' Virtual Reality (VR) Solutions

“In my day, we didn't have virtual reality.  If a one-eyed razorback barbarian warrior was chasing you with an ax, you just had to hope you could outrun him.”  – Anonymous

Virtual reality (VR) is a multi-disciplinary field of computing technology, that emerged from research on three-dimensional interactive graphics and pilot/vehicle simulations in the 1960's and 1970's.  Back then, VR helmets were too heavy and cumbersome, computers were too slow, and touch/feedback systems were still in their infancy. However, technology has changed dramatically over the past 40 years. Read More »

'Open' Cloud Computing & Health IT Systems

Over the next decade, many health IT systems are going to take advantage of 'Cloud Computing' technology. Just as many of health IT systems are now incorporating open source software into their architecture, 'open' cloud computing solutions will begin to be adopted. Read More »

'Open' Government Health Information Portals for Consumers

There are many free Health Information portals that have been developed and made available online by the U.S. government for consumers to obtain trusted information about a wide range of health related issues, e.g. nutrition, cancer, womens health, etc.  Take a quick look at some of these and share the links to these portals with friends and family.

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'Open' Health IT Architecture

I have had some major issues with IT Architects over the years and the many prolific and useless dissertations they produce that are usually of little real value or practical use to senior IT managers responsible for day-to-day operations.  That does not mean that I don't appreciate the need for a good, practical IT architectural blueprint or roadmap that will help one make better decisions about the technology to acquire and implement to best meet the operational business needs of the organization for the future. What follows is a high level management introduction to 'Open' Health IT Architecture for those who are new to this whole arena. Read More »

'Open' Health IT Standards

Mention standards and my eyes usually start to glaze over. However, standards can be exciting and do matter, especially to businesses, because they may have to ensure that their products interoperate with the dominant industry standards if they are to succeed. Where standards don't exist, a particular business may try to ensure the proprietary specifications they have been using to develop their own products become the industry standard that others must follow. This will give them an edge or head-start on their competitors. However, the optimum approach for both consumers and industry as a whole is for a truly collaborative and set of 'open standards' to emerge that all companies must adhere to. Read More »

'Open' Revolution

I believe we have moved into a century of massive, global collaboration, innovation, and 'open' solutions. There is a revolution taking place in the high tech industry as we continue to move to open source solutions. In education and publishing we are moving to open copyright, open access, open knowledge, and open journals. We're seeing collaborative and 'open' news organizations, religious, and political movements. 'Open' health IT solutions and communities are proliferating. I think its very real, this period of 'open' revolution' on all fronts. I just haven't got a truly clear handle on what it really looks like, how it operates, and what its impact will be on us, our country, and our way of life.  But something big is afoot -  this is not just the Information Age, we've entered an Age of Open Revolution!

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'Open' Revolution #10 - Solutions

A Strategic Plan for the U.S. to Succeed in this 21st Century 'Information Age'

In this final blog in my series on the 'Open Revolution', my focus has shifted to 'solutions.'  What can we do in the U.S. to restore the American Dream and guide our country through this transition from the 'Industrial Age' of the 1900's into the 21st century 'Information Age'. Read More »

A Brief History of 'Open Source' Software in Modern Times

The 'spirit' of open source was in existence many millennium before the term officially emerged toward the end of the 20th century. In 'ancient' times, our ancestors shared knowledge about hunting, farming, cooking, herbal treatments, and many other topics and skills needed to survive. In 'modern' times, collaboration and sharing has taken on a whole new meaning, especially as it relates to the topic of free and open source software (FOSS). What follows is a brief history and timeline of 'Open Source' activities in modern times to help people new to the subject to better understand what has been happening in this arena over the past 50 years. Read More »

A Case of Murder by EHR

Back in 2007, after Hurricane Katrina, I co-authored a story entitled "Murder by EHR" to showcase the benefits of having electronic health records (EHR), especially in major disaster situations. With the arrival of Hurricane Irene, I decided to reprint the story here for your entertainment and information. It's a bit longer than my normal blogs. Read More »