Archive for the ‘open-source software’ Category

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June 17th, 2009 By Jeremy Lundberg 1 Comment »

Online Cancer Support Just Got Better…

The Wellness Community Online

The Wellness Community Online

Approximately 35% of people with cancer experience significant psychological distress, including depression and anxiety (Zabora, 2001).  Since 2001, DLC Solutions has partnered with The Wellness Community to design and produce “The Wellness Community Online” (http://www.thewellnesscommunity.org).  The Website is widely regarded as the first Website to offer free, professionally moderated online support groups and education programs to people living with cancer and their caregivers.  In 2005, we designed and launched www.Grouploop.org to provide psychological support to teens affected by cancer.

As part of of our ongoing commitment to innovation and cancer care, DLC Solutions and TWC recently released a wealth of new social media features to enhance the community experience.

Website Features

  • Professionally-led, real-time chat support groups
  • Peer-to-peer social networking
  • Secure, thematic discussion forums
  • Personal blogs
  • Video journals
  • Webcasts and podcasts
  • Instant messaging
  • Interactive education modules
  • Research tools to monitor symptoms and key quality of life indicators

Today, both Websites have provided peer-to-peer and professionally moderated support to thousands of people impacted by cancer, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s Disease, and other chronic illnesses.  The Wellness Community Online is also part of a research partnership between TWC, Stanford University, and the University of California at San Francisco designed to enhance access to quality psychological support to people living with cancer and other chronic illnesses.  The research team has scientifically demonstrated that these online support groups are just as effective as face-to-face groups in reducing depression, increasing zest for life, and improving overall social functioning and quality of life.  Review a complete listing of the research publications from this effort.

We are very excited to be a part of such a wonderful and impactful Web initiative and we look forward to continuing to expand the site to better help those affected by cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

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Posted in Online Support Groups, Patient Education, The Wellness Community, Web 2.0, cancer, ehealth, health 2.0, open-source software, social networking | 1 Comment »

June 2nd, 2009 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off

MedBiquitous Webcasts on Health Education Technologies Now Available

As the proud e-learning sponsor of the 2009 MedBiquitous Annual Conference, DLC Solutions is pleased announce the release a series of video Webcasts on health education technologies and standards. The presentations were captured on April 28th-30th in Baltimore, MD, using DLC Solutions’ PresentME Webcasting technology.  We are pleased to have both sponsored and presented at this important event.

Webcast Presentations

  • “Welcome” – Don E. Detmer, MD, MA, Chairman, MedBiquitous Board of Directors, President and CEO, American Medical Informatics Association.
  • “Laying the Groundwork for Collaboration: A MedBiquitous update” – Peter Greene, MD, Executive Director, MedBiquitous.
  • “The Efficacy of E-learning in the Health Professions” – David Cook, MD, MHPE, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
  • “Information: The missing ingredient for successful innovation in medical education” – Ronald M Harden, OBE, MD, FRCP, FRCS, FRCPC, Association for Medical Education in Europe.
  • “Facebook and Social Networking – Can this really help me learn?” – Moderated by James B. Mcgee, MD, University of Pittsburgh, and Benjamin Azan, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and MedBiquitous.
  • “Ubiquitous Computing Using Second Life For Online Health Informatics Students” – Juliana J. Brixey PhD, MPH, RN; Judith J. Warren PhD, RN, BC, FAAN, FACM, University of Kansas School of Nursing.
  • “Health Preparedness Training in Second Life: Lessons learned” -  Karen Ngowe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • “Virtual Patient and Medical Device Simulation In Second Life: The use of immersive virtual worlds for learning and patient safety” -  David I Taylor MSc MBCS, Robin Winter; Mark Chan, Rachel Davies BA (Hons), James Kinross BSc (Hons) MRCS (Eng), Ara Darzi, FMedSci, HonFREng KBE Imperial College London.
  • “Applying the Professional Profile Standard: A real world example of how the Professional Profile is used” – Annette Gippe; Mike Zarski, AOIA
  • “Online, Just In Time, Electronic Certificate Exchange: A case study in leveraging the MedBiquitous Activity Report XML Standard” -  Benjamin Greenberg, Leah Wang, Medscape; Annette Gippe, American Osteopathic Association; Tarang Shah, Carl Singer, Andrew Rabin, CECity.
  • “EthosCE: The role of open source web technologies in continuing medical education” - Jeremy C Lundberg, MSSW, LSW, DLC Solutions; Logan Thomison, OptumHealth Education

To view the Webcast presentations, go to: http://medbiq.com

About Medbiquitous

Founded by Johns Hopkins Medicine and leading professional medical societies, MedBiquitous is a not-for-profit, international group of professional medical and healthcare associations, universities, commercial, and governmental organizations dedicated to advancing healthcare education through technology standards that promote professional competence, collaboration, and better patient care. MedBiquitous is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop information technology standards for healthcare education and competence assessment.

Posted in 3-D Virtual Worlds, CME, Drupal, EthosCE, Moodle, Web 2.0, Webcasting, health 2.0, healthcare, learning management system, open-source software, social networking | Comments Off

May 19th, 2009 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off

Webcast: Open Source Web Technologies in Continuing Medical Education

Open source Web technologies present exciting and innovative opportunities for the continuing medical education community to deliver high-quality content that engages learners in unique ways, streamlines educational outcomes measurement, and reduces administrative costs.

I recently had the pleasure of co-presenting with Logan Thomison of OptumHealth Education, a subsidiary of United Healthcare, on our experience of integrating two popular open source applications (i.e., Drupal content management system, Moodle learning management system) to create a full-featured, Web 2.0 platform: EthosCE.  DLC Solutions provided all of the techical expertise for the project including: stategic planning, graphic design, software engineering, and project management.  The presentation was given at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center’s Annual MedBiquitous Conference held on April 30th in Baltimore, Maryland.

DLC Solutions is also proud to have sponsored the conference and provided our PresentME Webcasting Services. Please click on the below image to view the presentation.  The accepted abstract is also included below.

Click on image to launch presentation

Click on image to launch presentation

Abstract: The Role of Open Source Web Technologies in Continuing Medical Education: A case study

The rapid emergence and evolution of open-source Web technologies are transforming the delivery and measurement of continuing medical education (CME). Today, healthcare organizations are able to leverage, customize, and integrate free, open source software applications to create innovative, collaborative learning environments that facilitate communication, collaboration, and the transfer of knowledge among healthcare professionals.

DLC Solutions and OptumHealth Education partnered together to create a full-featured Web platform for CME. The platform was designed to: 1) facilitate learning through access to learner-driven communication tools, SCORM-compliant courseware, and live activities; 2) streamline and reduce costs associated with CME program administration and data collection; and 3) conduct education outcomes studies by combining data from multiple public and proprietary sources. The Web platform was developed by integrating two industry-leading open source applications: Drupal and Moodle. Drupal is a comprehensive content management system with rich Web 2.0 features. Moodle is a SCORM-compliant, collaborative learning management system widely used by universities and associations.

This presentation will discuss the authors’ experience in the planning, development, and implementation of this open-source CME platform. Special attention will be given to describing the feature set, the benefits and limitations of the platform, and the integration of multiple data sources for outcomes analysis.

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Posted in CME, Drupal, EthosCE, Moodle, Web 2.0, cancer, consumer health, e-learning, health 2.0, learning management system, open-source software, social networking | Comments Off

May 18th, 2009 By Jeremy Lundberg 2 Comments »

CME: New Online Performance Improvement Programs for Physicians

As the technology partner of the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians (NJAFP), DLC Solutions is please to announce the launch of two innovative, online Performance Improvement Programs on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and colorectal cancer (CRC).  These easy-to use, interactive professional development programs are designed to educate physicians on incorporating quality improvement (QI) initiatives into their practice, which can impact patient care and outcomes.

CME Performance Improvement Plan

Throughout each module, physicians will be able to identify areas of practice strength and opportunities for improvement through the collection and comparison of patient and practice data.  Physicians will be able to develop a QI plan, implement interventions, and complete a post-assessment process to determine if improvement was achieved.

Each self-paced module is accredited for 20 hours of American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Performance Improvement credit.

To participate in one of the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians’ Online Performance Improvement Programs, please visit: http://www.njafp.org/education/onlinecme.asp

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Posted in CME, e-learning, learning management system, open-source software, physicians | 2 Comments »

April 14th, 2009 By Jeremy Lundberg Comments Off

EthosCE: Continuing Medical Education (CME) Meets Drupal and Moodle

After months of development (and dedication by our team), we are pleased to announce the release of EthosCE, an open source Web 2.0 platform for the management and delivery of continuing medical education (CME).

EthosCE is a full-featured, open source Web platform that has been specifically designed by healthcare clinicians and technologists to streamline and enhance the administration of continuing medical education activities. The platform seamlessly integrates two industry-leading software applications: Drupal™ Content Management System (CMS) and Moodle™ Learning Management System (LMS).

EthosCE enables organizations to produce and manage robust CME Websites that offer peer-to-peer networking, communities of practice, online and offline CME activities, performance improvement programs, and outcomes analyses. EthosCE can be fully customized and managed by your staff to reflect your organization’s branding, content navigation, data collection, and integration with third-party applications. As an open-source application, you are not subject to annual licensing fees or restrictions on the number of users.

Key Features

Content Management

  • Centralized, browser-based content authoring.
  • Template-driven, permission-based publishing.
  • Support for multiple Websites and languages.
  • Document management and tagging.
  • Customizable forms.
  • Google Search and Analytics.
  • Personal preferences and profiles.
  • Geolocalization of content.
  • Web-based site administration.
  • Version control.
  • Caching to maximize performance and scalability.

Web 2.0, Social Networking, and Online Communities

  • Moderated discussion forums (eg, communities of practice, support groups).
  • Peer-to-peer social networking.
  • Content rating system.
  • Calendars.
  • Public and private blogs.
  • Multimedia and e-learning support.
  • Polling.
  • Content syndication (e.g., RSS).
  • User-generated media sharing (eg, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace)

Learning Management

  • Centralized curriculum, test, and assessment administration.
  • Secure, customized user registration process.
  • Support for 50,000+ learners.
  • Integration with SCORM 1.2-compliant multimedia courseware.
  • Automated CME assessment scoring and certificate generation.
  • Surveys and evaluations.
  • Multiple question formats and test bank.
  • Real-time online reports on program participation and impact.
  • Data export to other outcomes measurement platforms and databases.
  • Collaboration learning via discussion forums and calendars.

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Posted in CME, EthosCE, health 2.0, learning management system, open-source software | Comments Off

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