We’ve received an overwhelming and kind response to our announcement last week, so wanted to share some answers to frequently asked questions we’ve been getting since then:
Q: I am not a software engineer. Is there something I can do to help?
Absolutely! Our projects are just getting started, but we’ll also need people to help with other non-coding tasks, such as documentation, graphic design, marketing, or testing (especially if you consider yourself a healthcare expert). Just sign in to our forums and introduce yourself to get started! If you believe in our mission but may not have lots of extra time, we also need financial support. Our project is entirely volunteer run, and even a small donation can help with our technology expenses & can support our contributors traveling to share their work with others. We’re a public charity, so your financial gift of any amount may also be tax-deductible. See https://librehealth.io/donate for details.
Q: What is happening with OpenMRS and OpenEMR?
As mentioned in our announcement, we’re building a new lineup of software solutions for healthcare. Our earliest community members have deep experience in the field from their work on the OpenEMR & OpenMRS projects, and we’ll be building upon many things those projects have released under open source licenses over the years. We anticipate both projects will continue to move forward with their own plans, and we’ll also do our best to offer our work back upstream to those projects as bug fixes and other changes, as may be appropriate. We have extended public invitations to those still contributing to both OpenMRS & OpenEMR to collaborate with us on LibreHealth initiatives, and look forward to the opportunity to work alongside them in the future.
Q: I have an idea/project that needs a home. Is LibreHealth right for me?
Maybe! A key part of our community is a governance system that allows for “incubation” of new project ideas. This process gives both space, time, and some community resources to those who would like a chance to experiment with their innovative ideas. Should the incubation process demonstrate key interest in the project from both a contribution and usage perspectives, the project may “graduate” to being a full sub-project in the LibreHealth community. You can read more about the incubation process at https://gitlab.com/librehealth/community-governance/blob/master/GOVERNANCE.md#project-governance and ask any follow-up questions here in our forums.
Q: I’m an educator interested in teaching Health IT and/or using LibreHealth in my curriculum. How can I get involved?
We’re just kicking off the LibreHealth Education Partnership Program and look forward to having many different types of educators involved in finalizing the initial version of the program for release in the coming weeks. If this sounds interesting to you, please join our forums and introduce yourself to let us know you’d like to be part of this new team.
Q: I’m a secondary school student interested in participating in Google Code-in with LibreHealth. Where do I go to get started?
We’ve got a special channel set up for GCI in our real-time chat. The program doesn’t officially begin until 28 November, but you can sign in today to https://chat.librehealth.io and head to the #gci channel to introduce yourself! Stay tuned for more information about this exciting contest.