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Freemed-YiRC NEWS

04/18/2007
THIS PAGE IS NOW OFFICIALLY DEPRICATED!!!
Please update your links. Everything should now point to the new wiki-based version of the site. Goodbye old site!
To access the new site, please use this following link: http://www.freemed-yirc.com

04/18/2007
New Domain Name! www.freemed-yirc.com
This should have been done a long time ago... I have now registered freemed-yirc.com and freemed-yirc.org. Very soon now this page will be depricated and all links will forward to the new wiki. Also, FYI, Mandriva Linux 2007.1 has been officially released. I have downloaded it and will commence testing. Progress!

04/16/2007
New FMYiRC Wiki!
Hello all, I am experimenting with a new Wiki-based site for Freemed-YiRC. For a preview, check it out: Freemed-YiRC Wiki.

04/10/2007
Freemed-YiRC V1.00 Updates
Last week I did quite a bit of thinking (and work!) in relation to FMYiRC V1.00. I've made the decision to indeed release a Beta0.99 version before the final V1.00 release. With this in mind, I will try my hardest to ensure I provide a somewhat-easy upgrade method for those who go with Beta0.99 to ensure they can move to V1.00 with minimal hassle.
I have also made the decision to go with Mandriva Linux version 2007.1 for use with my more friendly installer. I've made a lot of progress over the past week as well, to my surprise. While Mandriva Linux 2007.1 is not officially released, I've been testing their Release Candidate 3 (RC3) version. Therefore, FMYiRC Beta0.99 will not be available until at least Mandriva Linux 2007.1 is officially released and ready for download. My current plan is to provide both a CD .iso file (a burnable CD image file) and a regular compressed file (.tar.gz) which would be used to configure and tweak a fresh install of Mandriva Linux 2007.1. Immediately after the 2007.1 install, you'd either put in this CD and run it or download the .tar.gz file and use that. This will be a collection of RPMs that do not get installed by default that FMYiRC requires as well as two FMYiRC RPMs. One FMYiRC RPM will contain the FMYiRC program itself, and the other will be used to tweak a fresh Mandriva Linux 2007.1 install for use with FMYiRC.
I've also had to make some decisions relating to the future for FMYiRC. FMYiRC has been around for quite some time now (scroll down to the bottom of this very page, the first entry is 2/25/2000!). And as such, there are quite a few parts of the FMYiRC core which need upgrading. However, my goal for now is to get FMYiRC ready for a real release. If I spent all the time necessary to get the FMYiRC core to the point where it would be completely up to date, there is no way I'd have a release ready any time soon (surely not this year). So, my direction for now is to release FMYiRC with the core as it stands. This is what my agency has been using for some number of years. It's tried and tested. It works. I do not wish to make any massive changes to the system core at the last minute with no testing!
So, with the above stated, here are my current thoughts on timeline... I am assuming Mandriva Linux 2007.1 will be officially released by June. I may be wrong, but based on what I've seen, I believe this to be the case. It may even be sooner. After that, I will need some time with it to ensure all the work I've done based on their RC3 release still works and tests well.
Assuming I've done everything on my own FMYiRC TODO list by then, I hope to have FMYiRC Beta0.99 released by July 1st 2007.
My goal would then be to have FMYiRC Beta0.99 installed and being tested at multiple agencies for at least a few months. ASSUMING all goes well and any issues are taken care of during this period, then I'm going to make the following statement...
My goal is to have Freemed-YiRC V1.00 officially released by 1/1/2008.
Seem like a long time? Please keep in mind that I hope to have 99% of the functionality completed for the Beta0.99 release. V1.00, to me, is basically what most other software releases would consider V1.1, i.e., with all the patches and whatnot in place. I would certainly any interested agencies to use Beta0.99. I would be happy to work with you to help with the transition between Beta0.99 and V1.00. The feedback and bug reports for those using Beta0.99 will be VERY appreciated and very helpful to me and FMYiRC!
So what's beyond V1.00? Right now I don't want to jump too far ahead of myself. It'll be quite interesting to see what happens with Beta0.99 being used by multiple agencies. I can't wait for their input and feedback. Aside from that, I believe the focus will be on Freemed-YiRC V2.00. I do not have any sort of timeline or process for that in mind. All I have firm is that the FMYiRC core will need upgrading. I've recently learned that PHP6 (PHP is the programming language FMYiRC is built upon) will break some of the FMYiRC core. These changes are for the better, but it will be a massive amount of work to get the entire core of FMYiRC (and all the modules) changed and updated. It needs to be done, but this is work for FMYiRC V2.00, not V1.00. Right now I am the only coder, and sometime this year I hope to have some help with this project so that will determine the timeline and whatnot.
Please feel free to e-mail me with any comments/feedback!!!

04/04/2007
Freemed-YiRC V1.00 On The Horizon...
Work has started on preparing FMYiRC for a V1.00 release. There is much work to be done, especially in terms of documentation and an easier installation. Much interest in FMYiRC has been sparked thanks to the OACCA Outcomes Data Project, which runs on software I helped create, using FMYiRC base code as a starting point!
I do not have a firm timeline for releasing V1.00. All I can say for sure is it will be before the end of the year, if not the end of summer. I am toying with the idea of releasing a beta version before then, Beta0.99. This will resemble the final product, V1.00 would simply be bug fixes. If I go this route, I would provide a way to upgrade (from Beta0.99 to V1.00) as opposed to re-installing from scratch. If you have an opinion on this matter, please feel free to e-mail me...
I am also toying with the idea of creating a much friendlier install method. But the catch here is it would only work with one specific Linux distribution and version. For those not using my preferred distribution, you are still quite free to use whatever version of Linux you please, you just would not be able to take advantage of the easier install. I am currently looking at Mandriva 2007.1 as my base distribution. I am not fully vested in this yet, and may fall back to 2007.0, but using 2007.1 is my goal. I've been using Mandrake for as long as I can remember, and I am quite happy with it. Basically, I would create another CD for 2007.1. After you install 2007.1, you would then install this disc, and it would take care of the vast majority of the installation details (i.e., extra programs/RPMS required, configuration tweaking, etc...). It's still too early to tell exactly how much easier it will be, but I will try very hard to ensure it does as much as possible.
Please note that nearly every piece of documentation on this site is probably horribly out of date. This entire site will need a massive overhaul in preparation for V1.00. I've not looked at the Live Demo lately, when I get a free moment I will check it out to ensure it's still working (although using a two year old version...).
So... progress is being made. It's been a very long journey, but I hope to make FMYiRC something that will help tremendously in the Family & Youth care circles!

07/17/2005
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.24 Released!!!
Another year, another release :). This one, however, is quite special to me. I started Freemed-YiRC years ago to replace our existing, non web-based, system. While it took many years, this task was completed in late 2004. My agency is now using Freemed-YiRC exclusively for their case management needs (and far more). This release represents the cumulation of these many years of effort. This software has proven itself time and time again. And it could not have been possible with the support of the Free Software and Open Source communities. Freemed-YiRC has also proven itself time and time again in terms of fault tolerance. Thanks to the MySQL database replication features (as well as nightly DB backups to CD), I can honestly say that I've NEVER lost data due to any type of DB error or hardware failure. In addition, thanks to using dual servers (one on hot standby), I can say that the ONLY downtime we've had is either due to extended power outages, ISP-related Internet outages, or extreme server upgrades. And the latter was never for more than an hour at a time.
In fact, late last year we had an extended Internet outage at one of our facilities which lead to nearly a month of that location not having Internet access. During the week or so it took to get a temporary phone line installed out there for modem access (due to slow telco company response), I was able to get a temorary FMYiRC server running out there so they could at least look up data when necessary. I also enabled them so they could create certain types of records, then I manually synced them with the main FMYiRC server at our main office. After the modem was installed, nearly 20 workstations had to access Freemed-YiRC simultaneously through a bad 28.8 connection. Ouch! But thanks to FMYiRC using little to no graphics, things were at least bearable for the staff out there. Anyway, it's a real good indication of just how powerful these things can be when they are designed and implemented properly!
So, I am extremely happy to release Freemed-YiRC Beta0.24 into the wild! Go to Downloads Page.

06/11/2004
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.23 Released!!!
Took longer than expected due to my schedule, but here it is! Lots of bug fixes, lots of improvements, lots of new features! I want to say THANK YOU to those who showed up for the OACCA First Friday on June 4th, 2004! They were a great group of people, and it made the presentation I gave on Freemed-YiRC fun. So, without further ado, GO AND GET IT!!

05/27/2004
Update
Especially long time since I've updated here. I'm still hammering away at Freemed-YiRC. I've come to look at it more as an evolution rather than a product. It seems there is no way for me to ever get a final product completed. Last fall I implemented Freemed-YiRC for another child care agency, however their wants were very different from how Freemed-YiRC was structured. They still use Freemed-YiRC for census/MRDD billing, but not for it's primary goal, which is case management and much much more.
Anyway, I will be in Columbus on Friday 6/4/2004 talking about Freemed-YiRC at the OHIO ASSOCIATION OF CHILD CARING AGENCIES (OACCA) "First Friday" workshop at the Worthington Radisson Hotel and Conference Center. While my primary goal there is to get the word out about Freemed-YiRC, my underlying goal is to preach on common data standards and how free software can help many non-profit companies. I cannot do much to help another agency with Freemed-YiRC aside from basic setup, but what I want to express is that because Freemed-YiRC is open sourced and free, any agency can hire a linux kid right out of high school and/or college and have them modify it for them. Yes there is a learning curve. There is a learning curve with damn near everything, that's just how it works! But there is a huge potential in the child caring community for open source.
Time depending, I hope to have another release of Freemed-YiRC next week in time for the workshop.

11/23/2003
CVS???
I'm learning how to use CVS (Concurrent Versioning System) to help manage the growing codebase of Freemed-YiRC. I'm hoping this will eventually allow me to distribute updates faster. While right now I've only got it running on my development machine, I'm wondering if anyone else out there would be interested in having Freemed-YiRC on a public CVS server? Let me know!

11/23/2003
UPDATE
Things going quite well for Freemed-YiRC. I'm currently hammering away at getting the service plan system running in Freemed-YiRC. This is a big piece of the pie... not to mention one of the very last, for my agency at least. And that's how I'm building this lil' package of mine. This is an exciting time for me, as it's leading the fruition of a project that I've poured the last FOUR YEARS of my life into. While not many others are really using Freemed-YiRC (only one other, to my knowledge), the code is available, and it's here for anyone wanting! I am only one person, and have many other things going on in my life, so it's hard for me to try and push Freemed-YiRC, let alone try and support multiple agencies' installations. However, I do hope others will start to use it, in Ohio and beyond.

08/12/2003
UPDATED Freemed-YiRC Beta0.22b Released!!!
Well, when I released Beta0.22 I was in such a hurry to clean it up I forgot to test it for the latest changes I made that day. Sure enough, there were some errors in the SQL creation. SORRY! This has been fixed, and a new file is up and ready for download. This time I tested it (sheesh).
As always, there is one group home already set up (the Bob Johnson Memorial Group Home), as well as two users (Frank - Group Home staff, Mary - Office Staff). And there are two resident set up for use. I didn't have the time on Friday to set up the Live Demo, but it's now set up! Check it out!.

08/08/2003
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.22 Released!!!
No joke. I busted some serious butt getting this one pushed out the door. It's nothing more than a new code release. The docs have not been updated, and it sill only supports MySQL. This is the code that my agency is using, and it's been working out very well!

07/29/2003
UPDATE!
2003 has been a great year from Freemed-YiRC. But you sure wouldn't know it from looking at this site! Over the course of the year I've been adding MANY new modules to Freemed-YiRC. As I've said before, my primary objective for Freemed-YiRC has been to replace my agency's aging information system. This will happen by the end of this year, if not sooner. I've mostly finished up the new HIPPA EDI 837p file creation (mostly centered on Ohio's MACSIS requirements, but it should be modifiable for many other states), and have successfully concluded testing for my agency. We're set to beginning billing using the new 837p format within a month! Also, I'm finishing up the timecard system (in testing now) and am about to start working on service plans. Once that's out of the way, it will conclude phasing out our old system. It's over three and a half years since I've started this project, and it's really shining... for us. I do hope to get Freemed-YiRC out to more agencies, but for right now, my focus is on getting Freemed-YiRC working for my agency (after all, they're financing the project, and are very cool to allow this project to fall under the GNU GPL license so eventually many agencies can use it!). After I get to that point, I SERIOUSLY want to release Freemed-YiRC V1.0. I've said this many times before and been wrong, so don't take my word for it, keep watching this space!
It's now that I'd like to announce that Freemed-YiRC is being adopted by a second agency! I'm in the process of getting it up and running for them, but their needs are a bit different so I'm making modifications to meet their needs. The great news is that any modifications will be incorporated into Freemed-YiRC so that any agency similar to theirs will benefit!
So, in closing, things are FINALLY looking good for a V1.0 release. Again, I've said this before, but I'm in the last stages of closing out my major projects, and I know I NEED to get busy on this (the documentation is going to be the toughest part!).

12/02/2002
Work Progressing!
Wow, seems like I've fallen off the face of the earth. Sorry for not updating in like SEVEN MONTHS :(. During the entire middle of this year I got side- tracked with another VERY LARGE project here at my agency. But now I'm back into moving ahead with things. We've been using the new e-mail system for some months now, and are quickly approaching Incident Reports. In addition, I'm creating a Resident Census database. This can be quite useful for billing purposes, as well as for tracking. It will have the capability to track a child's educational attendance as well.
I don't have plans for an immediate release, but I do wish to put something out to cover the last seven months. Perhaps after Incident Reports and Census are in use by my agency and found to be working good, then I will do so. Again, sorry for the incredibly long wait!!!

04/24/2002
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.21b Released!!!
Yep. I had some extra time today, and was determined to pump this thing out. Casenotes have been running at my agency for nearly a month, and so far it's been pretty good. I've done lots of minor casenote bug fixes in this release, and I think the CN portion is ready for prime-time (just like the CCN portion has been).
In other news, I've also been busy re-writing the spell checking and e-mail systems! This release has a very good preview of both of those systems. They're not ready for prime-time yet, but they do give you an excellent feel for how it's going to work.
The E-Mail system is no longer based on the traditional IMAP e-mail client. I've developed it so that it's DB oriented. Because of this, it's only really useful for intra-agency e-mail. However, if you want a more extensive e-mail solution, there are many others that do the job better than I possibly could! There is currently no Internet connectivity for the e-mail, but in the future there will be limited outbound functionality (SENDING documents from FM-YiRC to the Internet).
The spell checker has been integreated into both the casenote system and e-mail! Soon it will be integrated with the CFS system (CCN and IRS), too.
I'm doing some more complex SQL queries (doing more with one query, instead of issuing a query, and then doing many sub-queries acting on that data). Under MySQL it seems to work great. I had some problems today making PostgreSQL do it, but I think I got it to work. In any case, please remember that MySQL is my primary development platform. I do wish to keep support for PostgreSQL there too, but I'm not constantly testing it as much as with MySQL (due to MySQL being quicker (in my opinion), and having replication features). So if you are having a problem with FM-YiRC running PostgreSQL, please let me know!!!

04/12/2002
So Far, So Good!
My agency has been using Freemed-YiRC for casenotes for the past few weeks, and so far so good, I'm pleased to say!
I haven't released the next snapshot release because I haven't had time to get it ready. Instead, I've been focused on new E-mail and spell-checking functions. Why? Why don't I just get what I have ready and release the stupid thing??? Well, my time is constrained here. I've got lots of projects going on, and getting a good E-mail, spell-checker, and IRS ready by the next quarter (June, actually, since I need to beta test for a month) is highly important to me. Our current system on which these things reside is showing age, and we want to do more and more with our information. And Freemed-YiRC is doing that for us. It just takes LOTS of time to get it right.
In any case, back to E-mail and the spell-checker... I thought I already had these things? I did. But they were written early on in the project, and to me, are far too clunky to use. Plus, I needed more from the e-mail client. So this is what I did. Instead of relying on an external e-mail system, I simply did my own. It's database driven just like everything else in Freemed-YiRC. What does that mean? Simple... just like the rest of Freemed-YiRC, the e-mail system will now share in the benefits of being database-driven. Things like redundancy and easy backup. Plus, it's tightly integreated with Freemed-YiRC. No extra password or login is required to access e-mail once logged in. The downside (and this might be very big or very small depending on your agency) is that this e-mail system is for Freemed-YiRC only... it's cannot interface with standard e-mail servers or clients (HOWEVER, I am looking at ways of being to send e-mail from the FM-YiRC system TO a standard e-mail system, but receiving mail from a standard e-mail system to Freemed-YiRC is HIGHLY unlikely). At my agency, we have both an internal, agency-only, e-mail system, and then an Internet e-mail system we use. For us, this works great. And for any agency out there that is in the same boat, it should work great for you, too. However, if you already have a working e-mail system in place that is good, then you can simply disable the FM-YiRC e-mail module, and continue to use your own! With Freemed-YiRC, you can only use what you want to use.
In any case, I'm refining the e-mail system now, and like I said before, I want to get that up and running for use by our entire agency by the next quarter. You will get a sample in the next developer snapshot release.
What about the spell-checker? Due to popular demand at my agency, I needed to start looking at getting spell-checking working. However, when I went back and looked at the previous spell-checker in Freemed-YiRC, I was very disappointed. It's a very hard-to-use system, and it's nearly impossible to integrate into the other modules (CCN, CN, etc...). So... I re-wrote it. I think it's a good utility. However, it uses JavaScript. For the most part, this shouldn't be a problem. I'm testing it with Netscape & Mozilla, and it's working great. I will also test with IE, Konqueror, etc... It's a nice module, and easy to integrate into the other parts of Freemed-YiRC. I've already integrated it with the CaseNote system, and am doing the same for E-Mail. I'm looking at doing the same for Clinical CaseNotes (CCN) and Incident Reports (IRS), along with any other type of future Custom Forms System (CFS) documents.
Like I said before, I hope to have the spell-checking functionality in full swing by next quarter. I should have it done and working here at my agency before that, but you never know. In any case, you will be able to sample it in the next developer snapshot release!
I know I should have had this snapshot release out already... I do have it on my list. But I want to get a good chunk of e-mail and spell-checking going here before I can spend some time on putting together the release... I hope you guys don't hate me :).

04/03/2002
New Server for FM-YiRC site
This site is on the move... please bear with me as the DNS changes! Hopefully things go pretty smoothly... we'll see! :).

04/02/2002
Another very good day!
Well, as of yesterday, my agency is officially using Freemed-YiRC at all group homes for casenotes! Our old casenote system has been 100% replaced by this. So far, things look good! Our old casenotes have been imported, and we're rockin'! When things settle down a bit, I will release another developer release, using the same code as is being used by my production server. This'll probably be a few weeks or so, as I want to make sure all the bugs in the casenote system are ironed out (should have been done in the beta session, but you know how bugs are :) ). So far, it's working great!

At the same time, I'm progressing with the FM-YiRC Client for PocketPCs. I've got a very beta version which now creates XML-based notes. Haven't had much time to implement it for testing, but I do want to get around to that soon. I will try and get the next release of the FM-YiRC Client for PocketPCs out at the same time as the next developer release of Freemed-YiRC!

03/07/2002
A good day!
As of today, we're beta testing Freemed-YiRC at one of my agency's group homes for use with casenotes (regular casenotes, not clinical casenotes, which we've been doing since July of last year)! I had tried to aim for March 1st, but got sidetracked for a week. If the beta period goes well, then I will introduce Freemed-YiRC for use by ALL staff for casenotes! At that point, Freemed-YiRC will be pervasive at my agency, and being tested by MANY people! I'm very much looking forward to it. I probably won't release a snapshot this month, due to the testing. After the testing, most of the wrinkles should be knocked out, and I will feel much better about releaseing Freemed-YiRC with a casenote facility that I feel very comfortable with!

Also, in terms of XML, I did a lot of work last month on that. I now have a contact XML import function (can import Standard, Resident, and Staff contacts using one file format!), as well as a clinical casenote import function using XML. Sometime here I plan on modifying the FM-YiRC Client for PocketPCs so it uses the XML format. At that point, you won't have to worry about matching your PocketPC client to the server client. They will be both-ways compatible with older/newer versions!!!

Freemed-YiRC is shaping up for V1.0. It's still sometime away (would like to nail IRS before 1.0), but the necessary features are coming about to make it so (legacy data import (via a standard like XML), and having major components tested in a real-life agency (CCN, now CN, and soon IRS). The work is moving forward!
V1.0? WHEN? Well, if all goes well with the casenote trial, we begin using it throughout the agency, and it looks OK, then I will begin the process of creating an XML-based import file and testing of the IRS system itself to make sure it's got everything it needs to be used in real-time!!! My target date to begin testing the IRS facility in our agency (at one group home) is June 1st. If that trial goes well, then one month later (July 1st), I hope to begin using it pervasively at all group homes at my agency!

HIPAA is most definately upon us. Although it looks like we're going to get a one year extension, I've got some major work to do. I have begun (and I'm talking about just breezing through it) the HCPC 837P. Looks like lots of work, but I'm gearing up for it! Again, most of my efforts will be centered around the State of Ohio's requirements. However, since this will be a national thing, I'm going to try and find out a way to make Freemed-YiRC work on a more national level. For instance, if another state requires MORE fields than Ohio does, then even though I'm using the HCPC 837P, Freemed-YiRC won't work for them because it's only generating the 837P with Ohio's requirements. I will try and devise a 'table' or something where fields on the Clinical CaseNotes (CCNs) are dynamically linked to fields in the 837P. So when it gets billed, I'm not defining just Ohio's values to get sent out... any necessary information for that state will get sent out according to what's defined in the link table between the CCN and the 837P. AGAIN, this is only speculation on my part, but I'd love to see it happen!

02/06/2002
Updates
I'm finally getting around to learning XML. PHP has some wonderful XML functions, and, so far, it's making basic XML very easy, yet very powerful. My proof of concept for using XML with Freemed-YiRC is to take the files generated by the FM-YiRC client, and XML-ize them. If it works, it will be wonderful. Right now, if I make a change to the FM-YiRC client, I have to make sure everyone has uploaded their notes and then upgrade all of our PocketPCs at the same time before anyone can use the new version. The nature of the export file is static, and it's VERY picky. Now that I'm using XML, it appears as though it's going to be VERY forgiving... it's going to enable a server to be backwards compatible with the FM-YiRC clients, and it *MAY* even be forwards compatible!!! With XML, I'm only taking the data I want, and PHP is parsing the files for me. This is wonderful... and it caused something unexpected to happen...
The more I play with this XML CCN import script I'm working on, the more it turns into a universal import script. What does this mean? Well, it's easy to explain. When I moved my agency from our older CCN system to Freemed-YiRC, I created a custom script to export our data from the old system, then another script (in Freemed-YiRC) to import it. My export script took my old data and formed SQL queries. The script in Freemed-YiRC would check the data and look at staff/resident names and assign them proper IDs from the Contact Database, etc... With a universal import script, anyone that can export their data into the XML format (the specifics of which I will of course publish), can then import them into Freemed-YiRC in a nearly painless fasion! The import script would check for some errors (make sure the resident, staff, and location actually existed, etc...), and do the database input for you. When I did it manually, I had to write a script for each type of CCN note, and there were four at the time. With a universal input script, you' still have to do the work of exporting your data to a text file, but then you'd just import all of it in one big batch, if you wish.
The beauty of this whole scenario is that the guts of the same script I'm using for importing CCN notes from the FM-YiRC client may also do the same job for importing legacy data!!! It's wonderful, I think.
I'm still working on it, but I do think it's going to work, and will make it more simpler for agencies looking to export their current data into Freemed-YiRC.
What this also means is that if a developer at an agency wished to create his own client, then it would be relatively easy to get that data imported into Freemed-YiRC! Because the format of the file will be published and open, they would be free to do so. For instance, if an agency has an abundace of Palms/PocketPCs floating around, and they're using a custom form that doesn't work with my PocketPC client, and they have the know-how to create a Palm/PocketPC program that would let them do it, then they could! As long as the they can! If an agency already has their people outfitted with laptops, then creating a client wouldn't be all that hard (as coding for a desktop/laptop is a little easier than doing so for a PocketPC)! You'd have a custom interface that you can train your people on, and the data would have an easy way to be imported into Freemed-YiRC!
I'm also looking at XML for other aspects of Freemed-YiRC... CFS definition files (the text file works OK now, but XML would give it greater flexibility, as well as allowing it to be edited with standard XML editors...) among other things.
I'll post more as I learn it!

02/04/2002
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.21 RELEASED!
OK, here it is. After months of useless talk, here is the code. This is Beta0.21a... THIS IS NOT Beta0.21! This is a developer snapshot. It should be stable enough, I devoted a day for specifically testing it. It should be stable both on PostgreSQL AND MySQL once again. MySQL is my primary development platform, but I wish to keep compatibility with PostgreSQL. There are qute a few updates and major feature additions to Beta0.21a! Here is a short list:

I'm not sure how many developer snapshots there will be before the release of Beta0.21. But, since I'm a confused BiPolar person... Beta0.21 might just morph into Freemed-YiRC Mark II. I'm just not sure. It all depends on time.
Here at my agency, I'm working on getting our entire casenote base into Freemed-YiRC. My hope is that by the April 1st, we will be using Freemed-YiRC for CaseNotes (CN)! That will be a big step forward. Currently we're using Freemed-YiRC for all of our Clinical CaseNotes (CCN)... but that's only a few staff using it. When we switch over to using it for CNs, that would mean that ALL of our staff would be using. That would be quite a test, as we have quite a few remote locations and staff.
My next goal is to get the Incident Report System functionality of Freemed-YiRC into actual usage. This is a very big piece of the puzzle. I'm hoping to get this done July 1st or so (early 2nd half).
At that point, we'll have the "Big Three" covered... CCN, CN, & IRS. Most of our data here at my agency is in these three subjects. After that, I need to get Service Plans into Freemed-YiRC, and several other important pieces.
So my current plan (which can change overnight... just look at the past logs) is this... the Beta0.21 series will last through the 1st half of 2002. SORRY. When it's to the point when CN & IRS have been implemented at my agency and I'm satisfied with the performance, I will begin working on Mark II. I'll add documentation and get some nice DB models done, and then I'll pop out Freemed-YiRC Version 1.0. That is when I will recommend any agency currently evaluation Freemed-YiRC to start actually USING it for production data. After V1.0, I will have to try and make sure that future updates will be in the form of patches against V1.0... so that no data will be lost in an upgrade process! That's my goal, and I will be working towards that. ENJOY!

01/21/2002
FM-YiRC Client for PocketPCs Beta0.11 released!
Hey all! I finally had some time last week to sit down and fix some core problems with the FM-YiRC Client so that it should now work much better! It will also work on the new PocketPC2002 devices, BUT the FTP functions do not work. This is due to Microsoft removing something in the new version. I'm working on getting a fix to this! However, the program itself does work, and it will create files ready for importing on a Freemed-YiRC system (see note below). But on a PocketPC2002 device (Casio E-200, etc...), the file cannot be automatically FTPd... it must be manually copied. On the older PocketPC2000 devices (Casio E-125, etc...) it works fine including FTP.

One IMPORTANT NOTE here. The files Beta0.11 creates can't be read by the current release of Freemed-YiRC. This is due to some formatting changes (the addition of a new field or two) that isn't in the latest release. Again, I'm working on getting a release ready as soon as I can! I wanted to release Beta0.11 of the FM-YiRC Client now so that those who had problems with Beta0.10 would be able to see it work, and what it does. To evaluate it, in terms.


01/09/2002
HIPPA
How could I forget to mention HIPAA?
I went to a meeting that explained more what it is, and how it relates to the Privacy Rule. I'm going to put HIPAA functionality into Freemed-YiRC as I/we (our agency) sees the need for it.
One potential postive outcome of HIPAA is the computer/EDI related aspects. If it works out like they say, then interstate billing may become a breeze, compared to the hell it is now. If there is one federal standard for EDI, then it may be possible to create multiple files, but of the same format. Just send the files to the right corresponding state agency. If that happens, then Freemed-YiRC will become instantly more useful to those of you outside of Ohio!

01/09/2002
Updates
I made an honest effort to create a snapshot for release the other day, but lo-and-behold, something came up and threw me off... :(. Sorry all. I will try to get that out soon, and live up to my promise of monthy releases.
In other news, I also tried to update the FM-YiRC Client for PocketPCs so the newer devices could use it. Guess what? Microsoft changed something, and while I got the program to function, it could not FTP files directly from the application. I got several e-mails out right now to see if I can get this problem resolved.
Hope to have more later!!!

12/03/2001
FM-YiRC PocketPC Client/PocketPC2002
Well, the new PocketPC 2002 units are coming out... and I've got one of them! I've got a Casio E-200, and I think it's pretty cool. Unfortunately, I do have a defective back-light. But aside from that it is a really nice looking AND functioning unit. For my review of the Casio E-200, check out http://www.joethielen.com/casio_e200.
In any case, I tried to load the FM-YiRC Client onto the Casio E-200, but it did not work correctly. When I ran the FM-YiRC Client, I got several errors. I will have to track this stuff down and see what the problem is!

11/16/2001
Releases... WHEN??
I know I keep stringing this along. But recent events have pretty much destroyed my efforts to keep on top of things. One of the main reasons I'm developing Freemed-YiRC is to replace the current text-based system we are using now. It's based on an SCO Openserver 5 machine using the Angoss Smartware platform. We've used the SCO/Smart combo here where I work before I even started here. However, with the era of the web upon us, a paradigm shift is evident, and smart just didn't move fast enough to convince me to stick with it. In any case, last month we had a near worst-case scenario where our main machine had a hard drive failure. It was a RAID machine with two drives, but the RAID failed for some reason, and it's been limping. So it failed, and after spending a few days putting all the pieces back together, my main priority here at my job is to add more componets to Freemed-YiRC as fast as I can, so we can move away from our legacy system for ALL aspects, not just clinical/medical billing.
The problem here is that I just will not have the time to mop up Freemed-YiRC for a 'stable' release for quite some time. Documentation is just going to be IMPOSSIBLE anytime soon.
So it is to you, the Freemed-YiRC evaluator, who I ask the following question. Would you rather, instead of waiting months and months for a stable release, want monthly developmental builds, instead? There will be no documentation for quite some time (unless a miracle occurs, and I get a week to do nothing but document), but all of the new features and bug fixes should be listed in the 'ChangeLog' and 'NEWS' files. You'd probably have to be a developer to make heads or tails of the ChangeLog, but I try to keep the NEWS file as straight-forward as possible... new features and major bug fixes only. So, let me know... via e-mail or by posting a message in the forum.
Remember, I am doing this for the community. I am not receiving any money (outside of my normal paycheck from my employer) for creating this program. I need YOUR input!!!

11/07/2001
Screenshot Happy
I've also managed to get screenshots of the Freemed-YiRC program itself. I've added a new link to the banner... Screenshots. Don't get these confused with the FM-YiRC Client screenshots!

11/07/2001
FM-YiRC PocketPC Client Screenshots
I stumbled upon a screenshot program for my Casio E-125, and decided to make some screenshots of the FM-YiRC Client for PocketPCs. I've added a new page to the site, you can find it here! I've also added a link to it in the banner.

10/18/2001
Status Update
I've finally updated the Status page. As it says, most of the parts are indeed usable. We are, of course, using it at my agency, LHS - Family & Youth Services in Toledo, OH. At this point, my focus is on ironing out some residual MACSIS stuff (reports, auditing tools, etc...) and creating the documentation (Manual, on-line help shorts, procedure sheets, etc...). This is going to take quite awhile, as creating good documentation is very very hard. And I wish to have a lot of documentation with the system. And I'm not just talking about a basic manual, although that is a big part. I am also focused on the on-line help system (click on the help icon from ANY screen to get pertinent help for that screen), and procedure sheets. Procedure sheets will be clear and concise about how to do certain things (creating clinical casenotes, creating a bill file, etc...).

When Freemed-YiRC V1.0 is completed, it will be able to be used by a wide audience. The custom forms (CFS) and clinical notes (CCN) will be usable by a nearly world-wide audience, I think (english-speaking, that is... although Internationalization (i18n) is a goal of mine, it will not be implemented for V1.0). The MACSIS portions are limited to agencies in the US state of Ohio. However, any agency with the in-house staff willing to do so can create a custom billing system and modify integreate it with Freemed-YiRC. I am most willing to answer any questions for those who wish to do this! After all, that is what Freemed-YiRC is about... enabling your agency to do what it needs to do without hindering you with Licensing fees and excessive software costs!!!

10/11/2001
FM-YiRC Client for PocketPCs Beta0.10 Released!!!
Hey all! I'm very excited over here. I've just released the FM-YiRC Client for PocketPCs!!! It's something that I've talked about before, but I haven't released the program/code yet. Now I have!
This program was written using the MicroSoft Embedded Visual Basic SDK for PocketPCs. It's free to download. I've released two packages, the binary file, and the source code file. The software is compiled for all three of the main PocketPC CPUs: StrongArm (used in the iPaq, and all the new PocketPC 2002 devices), NEC Mips 4K (Casio E-125), and SH3 (HP Journada). I personally use the Casio E-125, and LOVE IT (can't wait for the E-200!!!).
There is a major limitation to the software, though. It currently only supports three types of CCN notes (NIDs c, d, and p). IT WILL NOT SUPPORT ANY CUSTOM FORMS CREATED WITH FREEMED-YIRC. MS eVB is not flexable enough to allow me to dynamically download export files (created with Freemed-YiRC) and dynamically create forms for them. This is a HUGE drawback, and I'm extremely sorry for this.
GOOD NEWS, HOWEVER. If you're familiar with MS Embedded Visual Basic, or even plain old Visual Basic, chances are you can learn it, and modify it fairly quick! The source code is out there. It's GPL'd, feel free to customize it to fit YOUR needs! If you have any questions, I'm always happy to answer them!B
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: I'm continously working on making Freemed-YiRC better. At this point it is EXTREMELY STABLE in terms of CCN note creation and billing. I even have it working with a MySQL database that is mirrored in real time between two machines!!! If either of these machines go down, the other will take over for it! It's awesome!!!
I'm working on creating a mobile interface for Freemed-YiRC to do limited things on smaller screens (i.e. PocketPCs/PDAs). For instance, if you have a networked PocketPC (wired OR wireless), you could create a CCN with the PDA & FM-YiRC Client, then upload it. You would switch over to MS Pocket Internet Explorer, log into your Freemed-YiRC server, and import and print them (to a Freemed-YiRC recognized printer), right on the spot!!! I'm very excited about all of this, as I've said before. And our therapists are doing this NOW with their Casio E-125s & Symbol Wireless Networker 802.11b cards!!! Any comments/questions are always welcomed! joethielen@familyandyouth.org.

08/31/2001
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.20 Released!!!
No joke. I've been VERY busy trying to polish it up! I think it's ready for the world. We're using it here at my agency, and aside from some initial problems, it's been gung-ho! It's to the point where I don't have to billing or handle RAs anymore! I've moved this duty to the people who should actually have it, our accounting people! They want to be in control of this stuff anyway, it's their niche. Now they can have it :). Up until this software, I've had to do TONS of stuff manually to get a billing together. And that wasn't even the hard part. When receiving the RAs, the real work came in. Processing those RAs is hard. Especially when county boards issue screwed up looking reports with incomplete data. I know, I have to deal with it :). However, I feel that the RA Processor in Freemed-YiRC is very nice. Also, I've got a simple ERA (Electronic RA... for the counties who send a disk along with the RAs) processor, too! Instead of manually entering the data line-by-line, you put the disk in, upload it to Freemed-YiRC, and it's done! It's not entirely finished, but it does work!
OK, What's new in Beta0.20? LOTS! This is the first release where nearly all of the elements have come together to form a full clinical package (especially where MACSIS is concerned). You can now create notes, bill notes, mark notes paid, and print reports for those notes! It's nearly full circle.
I've also done a lot of "Localization" (l10n) (DO NOT CONFUSE THIS WITH Internationalization (i18n)!!!). All times and dates in Freemed-YiRC are now customizable. Here in America, we used to 01/02/2000, however I can see that much of the world likes to see 2000/01/02. I've even seen places which use the format 02/01/2000.. and so on and so forth. Welp, Freemed-YiRC now supports this. And because Freemed-YiRC handles all date data internally with the same format, displaying dates is just another function, so it would not be hard to add additional date formats! The same with time, you can now have your choice between 24 hour, also called military, time, and 12 hour AM/PM time! In addition to all this, you can select the separator character. Typically date formats use the slash character ("/"), but you can use any character you wish. I've seen dates recently listed as 01.02.2000, using periods (".") instead of the slash. You can now do this with Freemed-YiRC! The same with time, but I'm not sure why you'd want to do that... but you can! And if you change your mind, no problem. Again, all dates are stored with an internal format, and the format you want to display it as can be changed as many times as you want, without changed the actual data!
Also, I've localized street addresses. You can now choose between US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, UK, and EU style addresses. Adding more types is really easy, too. This needs more testing, as I've not had experience with street addresses outside of the US. I've read much on the subject, in order to make this work, however. But if something is just wrong, the PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
There are many, MANY other changes to Freemed-YiRC. There is now an on-line help system! In the upper-right hand corner of the Freemed-YiRC window, there are now three icons instead of two. The new one is a question mark. This is for help! You can click on this icon, and you will be shown the appropriate help for wherever you are at in Freemed-YiRC. Please note that the on-line help documentation is not complete. However, the function does work! The on-line documentation is something I plan on doing, along with all the system documentation, for the Mark II and V1.0 releases.
I've mentioned this before, but I should do so again. I've switched my development from PostgreSQL to MySQL. In my experience, MySQL is much faster than PostgreSQL. I've used PostgreSQL for quite a while now, and I like it, but you can not beat the speed of MySQL. However, I still offer support for BOTH databases. But with MySQL being my database of choice now, most heavy testing will be done on that front. As such, the variables in freemed_yirc-vars.inc are now set up by default for MySQL use. If you are using PostgreSQL, then please be sure and modify these!
Another update in Beta0.20 is the support for MySQL's database replication feature. MySQL has the ability to 'mirror' itself (in near real-time) between databases on two different machines! It's a little hard to do at first, but once it's working, it's awesome! Well, I've modified Freemed-YiRC to now support two DB hosts instead of just one. If you're using MySQL, and know how to set up MySQL's replication features, Freemed-YiRC can support that! Freemed-YiRC Beta0.20 also now supports database failover. Let's say the first database server fails. Well Freemed-YiRC will test for this, then AUTOMATICALLY switch to the secondary server! If the primary server is brough back up, is synchronized, and then the secondary server manages to go out, then Freemed-YiRC will sense this, and will automatically switch back to the primary server! It's really very wonderful. If two DB servers are placed in different parts of a building (i.e. for 'fire' and 'valdalism' concerns), then that, combined with proper backups, will produce a VERY fault-tolerant system!
Let's see... what else... there are lots of other things. You'll just have to play with it to see!
By default, I've 'disabled' a lot of things in Freemed-YiRC Beta0.20, as you'll probably notice. Things such as the 'Incident Report System (IRS)' and Timecard System'. The reason for this is simple. Lately I've been totally concentrating on the clinical portions of Freemed-YiRC, as this is most important at our agency. This will remain through V1.0. Freemed-YiRC Mark II and Freemed-YiRC V1.0 will primarily be for clinical usage. I want to make this stuff SOLID AS A ROCK before venturing into other territory (namely, IRS & Timecards).
SO WHAT IS THE CURRENT TIMELINE NOW THAT BETA0.20 HAS BEEN RELEASED?
Good question. I like to hope that I can release Freemed-YiRC Mark II before December, and Freemed-YiRC V1.0 before, or around, the 1st of the year. At this point in time, I'm going to try and focus on nailing down the bugs and, very important, updating the documentation. I know documentation is VERY important. The on-line documentation, too. This is a main goal for me, but I know it's going to be very hard to do, seeing that I'm a technical person, not a writer! :)
Well, I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot here, but I think that covers the big issues. I probably will be focusing on other things here at my agency in the next few weeks now that Beta0.20 is released, but I should be back in gear during late September or so.
Enjoy!

08/21/2001
Live Demo Reset
OK all, I've reset the live demo. It was getting a bit beat-up :). You guys are GREAT security testers, thanks!!! *grin*. Really, I appreciate all who look at the live demo and play with it. I've put the same version back on-line, Beta 0.19. I think I've come to the conclusion that if I can get some testing time in (it's being thoroughly tested with MySQL, now that it's my primary platform... I REALLY need to test it with PostgreSQL now), I will release Beta0.20 in its current state. It's stable enough, we're using in a PRODUCTION enviornment on a daily basis here for all things Clinical. It's lacking some MACSIS reports, and I'm sure still has many bugs. However, Beta0.20 looks completely new compaired to Beta0.19 when you look at the code. So many new features, and so many IMPORTANT bug fixes, too! Welp, let me get back to work here... :)

07/03/2001
Progress!
Welp... it's been a long two weeks!!! Here at my agency I've sucessfully ported all of our Clinical CaseNotes from our current, text-based, system to Freemed-YiRC!!! We've been using Freemed-YiRC at one of our group homes, in a Beta-testing mode, but this is now the real deal. ALL CCN functions, including MACSIS billing and accounting, are now done with Freemed-YiRC. I'm currently in the process of creating the necessary accounting reports for MACSIS info. Sometime (hopefully this week... after the 4th) I will be working on updating the FM-YiRC client for the PocketPC. Our therapists use this client alot, and it's time to boost it up to full production mode. I'll let you know how this progresses.

That brings me to the issue of the next release(s). Depending on time and workload issues here at my agency, I should start working on polishing up Beta0.20 for release. I know I've said this for months... but I've got a working system now (i.e. one that's actually being used by people), and I want to make sure that it gets a proper shakedown. However, at the same time, I want to release the new code to everyone so you can play with all the new features! It's a delicate balance... as always. What I'm going to try and do is to polish up the code and kill as many bugs as I can. Then I'll release Beta0.20. Maybe by the end of July. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Then I'll have to finish up adding all of the on-line help entries, and updating of the manual. At that point, I will release Freemed-YiRC Mark II. When the system is extremely stable, the bugs mashed, and the documentation is taken care of, I will release Freemed-YiRC V1.0! Because of the volatile nature of things, I can't place a timeline on Mark II and V1.0. I've set deadlines before, but something ALWAYS comes up, and it gets pushed back once or even more times. Let's just look forward to Beta0.20!!!

06/14/2001
A Ray of Sunshine...
...In the otherwise dark cloudy sky that is MACSIS...

Today I received an RA AND A CHECK from a county which was generated via our Beta testing Freemed-YiRC software using group home!!! And the RAs displayed a Freemed-YiRC invoice number (a condensed version due to the space limitations, but a feat no less!!!)! This is EXCELLENT news. And to make matters even better, this county sent us a disk with the electronic version of the RAs, too!

What this means is that I now have a lot of work to do between now and July 1st. That is the start of the new fiscal year. I have to import ALL of our Clinical CaseNotes from our current system to the new system between now and them, and I have to generate another billing. This time for ALL billable notes between the last time I billed (a few months ago), and June 30th. So I will be very busy putting Freemed-YiRC through it's paces.

Hence, I will not have time to release Beta0.20 like I had planned very soon. However, when I DO release it, it *should* be very solid, CCN-wise, due to the fact that I'm going to be putting LOTS of pressure on it!!! Look forward to good things! However, much patience and restraint is going to be required. I know it's hard! But it's DEFINATELY getting there.

Any comments or questions, please FEEL FREE to e-mail me at joethielen@familyandyouth.org!!!

05/18/2001
Update
I've been wrestling with Behavioral Health this week, trying to get the file format perfected. I've had a couple of technical snags, as well as some social snags trying to deal with people about BH.
I've added 'Audit Locking' functionality to Freemed-YiRC. If a Clinical CaseNote has been billed, then it can not be edited or deleted (I will make an edit facility available, but ONLY for top level administrators!). In addition, I've added facilities to view a billing history for a record, as well as information about all previous billing batches. This information has been stored in Freemed-YiRC tables, but I've just now gotten around to providing an interface for it.
I'm still mopping up for the next release. I want to make sure I've got all of the necessary facilities in there before I release Freemed-YiRC into the light. I'm still currently planning on releasing Beta0.20, then Mark II, then Freemed-YIRC V1.0. Beta0.20 will be provided for intense testing. We will be using Beta0.20 here for generating MACSIS HCFA-1500 V2 NSF files, as well as Behavioral Health files. I'm still awaiting the results of my first MACSIS billing (I've gotten good reports, but now I'm wating for the MACSIS RAs and $$$). If that goes well (I expect it to), then at my agency I am going to import ALL EXISTING CLINICAL CASENOTE data in Freemed-YiRC and begin to use it EXCLUSIVELY for Clinical services. This should be a rather intense test of Beta0.20.
The bugfixes and requested features of Beta0.20 will morph into Mark II. When I feel that Mark II is rather solid/bullet-proof, I will release Freemed-YiRC V1.0. I will be doing much documentation (including a full update to the manual) for Mark II. Complete documentation including many, many pages of programming/hacking info for Freemed-YiRC will be provided with the V1.0 release.
Lot's of work done, but yet lots of work TO BE DONE! Let's stick with it, and see where it takes us!

05/10/2001
Update (Localization/Behavioral Health/Next Release)
I've been working VERY hard lately on Freemed-YiRC. I'm pretty much done with the localization of times, dates, AND addresses! When inputting a street address, you are now given the option to change what type of address (i.e., for which country you're putting the address in for). There is now a database of address types, which can be modified by anyone for COMPLTELY CUSTOM addresses! This should help ALOT with the localization of Freemed-YiRC. I haven't localized the phone numbers yet, but it's coming!
Behavioral Health. I've spent a lot of time in the past week or so working on this. Today I've created a test BH file, and am in the process of sending it to the State of Ohio for testing. This marks another major milestone for Freemed-YiRC!
So, many, many updates. I'm very busy polishing up Freemed-YiRC for it's next release. Most likely I will release Beta0.20 next, then Mark II.
At that point, depending on how much testing I'm able to do, and how much I can polish it up, I'm THINKING about releasing Freemed-YiRC V1.0. Yep. That's right. The first STABLE, NON-BETA release of Freemed-YiRC. As of right now, it's probably going to have everything Freemed-YiRC has in it now, except for timecard functionality. This is probably MANY months away however (MAYBE sometime in the 4th quarter... MAYBE). It should have full Clinical CaseNote (CCN) functionality, Incident Reports (IRS), a fully functional and secure Contact DB, Network DB, MACSIS functionality (HCFA-1500 V2 NSF file generation/billing and Behavioral Health file generation), printing, e-mail, and much, much more!!!

05/01/2001
Localization
It's me again! I've been working hard on polishing up Freemed-YiRC for it's Mark II release. I'm still not sure if Mark II will be the next release, or the one after... but it's coming!!!
I've started working on something that I think is VERY important for Freemed-YiRC -- localization or l10n. This involves making Freemed-YiRC able to be used by more people than just Americans. Up until now, the time and date formats in Freemed-YiRC have been tied to HH:MMAP for times, and MM/DD/YYYY for dates. Now this is changing! In Freemed-YiRC I've created a 'settings' menu, in which the root user can select which date and time formats they'd like to use. They can also choose the separation characters for the time and dates (i.e., for time the ":" character is usually used... however, this can be user selected... some people use "/" for dates and others may use "-"). This is all now user selectable! It's a major leap forward for Freemed-YiRC in terms of international useage. I'm working hard at going through each and every piece of Freemed-YiRC and modifying it so that dates and times are displayed according to user preferences!!!
In addition, I plan on modifying Freemed-YiRC so that things like addresses and phone numbers can be user configurable. These things can change WIDELY from country to country! And I wish to make Freemed-YiRC as widely usable as possible. Look forward to all of this in a near future version of Freemed-YiRC!!!
Please do not confuse localization (l10n) with internationalization (i18n). Internationalization is making a program available in many different languages. I'm not to the point where I can do that with Freemed-YiRC (however, the longer I wait, the harder it will be to do so). But it's coming, too!

04/25/2001
Update
Hello all. On Monday, I created our first MACSIS bililng using Freemed-YiRC. After I created the file, I examined it, and there were some minor technical errors. I've fixed them in the Freemed-YiRC code, and then created a new billing file. It worked great. I contacted my local mental health board and notified them that I was submitting a new billing file created with new software. They told me they would run it through the State Of Ohio's MACSIS "MOM" testing service before it would be processed for payment. This is a good thing.
Yesterday I got an e-mail backing stating the file passed initial testing! This is very good news! Now, there still may be some issues relating to bad data in our particular system, but I don't think there will be. I will let you know when I get the MACSIS RAs back!
In other news, I'm in the process of creating an on-line help system for Freemed-YiRC. I've added a new icon in the upper right hand corner of the Freemed-YiRC Window. The icon looks like a question mark. When a user click on this icon, it will display help for the current screen... if any help is available. What I have to do now is to go through each screen in Freemed-YiRC, and write a detailed help text for that screen. It's going to take a while, but I believe it will certainly be worth the effort!!
I am gearing up for the next MAJOR release: Freemed-YiRC Mark II. I am not sure at this point whether or not I will be releasing Beta0.20 before Mark II, or if I will morph Beta0.20 INTO Mark II (I'd be kind of neat, Mark I was Beta0.15, Mark II may be Beta0.20... maybe I should start a string... A major release, then four bug-fix/feature improvement releases). In any case, I will of course let you know how things are progressing.
At this point I'm not sure if I'll be adding any new features in the near future except for the on-line help stuff. I wish to make the existing features as solid as possible in order to have a really good major release. Adding new features would just complicate that.
So, I leave you on this Wednesday with the happy thought that Mark II is now somewhere on the horizon!!!

04/19/2001
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.19 RELEASED!!!
And it was upon this Friday, April 20th of the year 2001 that Joe Thielen decried: "Let Beta0.19 be released. Let it be good. And let the IT people of all the worlds YiRC agencies celebrate this most of joyous occasions!"
It could happen :)
Hello all. It's Friday, and it's time for yet another release of Freemed-YiRC! Beta0.19 incorporates a TON of new features and MANY MANY MANY bug fixes and improvements.
Top on the list of NEW features is Freemed-YiRCs ability to use MySQLs database replication features!!! The latest version of MySQL has recently been declared stable. And that includes the database replication. I've played with it, and I think it is VERY VERY VERY cool. You can set up two MySQL servers and have them mirror each other. If one machine goes down, the other one can act as an instant backup. No data loss. And when the machine comes back up, it will re-sync automatically. Freemed-YiRC takes advantage of this! You can specify the two IP addresses of your two MySQL DB servers now in the freemed_yirc-vars.inc file! Of course, this option only applies to MySQL users, and is not required. But it is recommended!!!
Next on the list is a whole bunch of security improvements and access controls. The 'root' account is now protected. In the User Admin, Contact DB, and Security DB, you can no longer delete the record for the 'root' user. In addition, only 'root' can delete records from the Contact DB. It is unwise to delete users unless a mistake has been made. Usually users are made 'inactive' and not deleted. Otherwise, data corruption would occur because thinks may become un-linked. This is why only the root user can now delete contacts from the Contact DB. Also, tighter access controls have been implemented in a few areas. First is the Contact DB. There are now two new Security DB permissions, 'con_stf' and 'con_res'. These permissions control who is allowed to see these types of contacts. If a staff shouldn't have access to any staff or resident contacts, but does need access to the 'standard' list of contacts, then that can now be done!!! If a staff (say, the Clinical CaseNote administrator) needs access to the resident contacts, but should not have access to the staff, then this can now be done!!! Also, access controls have been introduced into the printing subsystem! In the User Admin menu, each user now has his/her own list of printers available to them. That way, that user can only print to one of the printers assigned to them. If a user should not be printing at all, then that can be arranged! The master printer list has stayed the same. But when a user goes to print, they can only select from their own list of printers.
Also new to Beta0.19 is the addition of a new time saving feature: CFS Note Lookup (Invoice lookup). Using the invoice number from a CFS note (either a Clinical CaseNote (CCN) or Incident Report (IRS)), a user can automatically go directly to that note without having to navigate through a myriad of menus and then picking that note out from a potential of thousands! All the user has to do is type in the invoice number (which is assigned to EVERY CFS note), and they are automatically transported to that note. While there they can view, edit, or print the note. This should prove to be a big timesaver for many staff!!!
Also new in Beta0.19 is the ability for 'Standard' contacts to have user accounts. Previously, only 'Staff' contacts could have a user account. However, I can forsee many situations where someone may need a user account, but may not be proper for them to be listed as a 'Staff'.
These and MANY OTHER feature and improvements await you in Freemed-YiRC Beta0.19!!!

04/17/2001
Publicity for Freemed-YiRC!
Freemed-YiRC currently has a news spot on the FreeMED website! Remember, Freemed-YiRC is a branch of the FreeMED software. FreeMED is for use in doctors offices, hospitals, etc. Freemed-YiRC was born of the need for such a product customized for the Youth in Residential Care enviornment. That is why Freemed-YiRC bears the FreeMED name. If you have any dealings with IS/IT people in those types of enviornments (doctors offices, hospitals, etc...), please refer them to the FreeMED web site at www.FreeMED.org! And a big THANK YOU to all the people behind the FreeMED project for their support of Freemed-YiRC!

04/17/2001
Updates for Freemed-YiRC!
Hello all. It's been a while since the last update, so here I go...
I'm working here at LHSF&YS using Freemed-YiRC in a Beta testing manner to create our first REAL MACSIS billing! We've been using Freemed-YiRC with one of our group homes for a month or so for use with Clinical CaseNotes. So far so good. Some bugs were reported, and they've been fixed. That's what Beta-Testing is all about! But the real gem will come when I generate the billing, get it submitted, and get paid for it!!! :) Good times are ahead, all, and I wish to thank all of you who look at the software!

03/30/2001
Server Software Upgrade
Hello all, one hell of a day here :). I managed to upgrade the server to new versions of Apache, PHP, and PostgreSQL. All features of the live demo should work, including the MAIL program (which has never worked because I failed to compile PHP with imap support), and the 'View Timecard' menu option.
As for Freemed-YiRC mail, I've set up e-mail accounts for Mary and Frank. Their e-mail password is the same as their login passwords (i.e. '123'). Feel free to send e-mail from Mary to Frank, and vice versa!
Please note that 'root' does not have an e-mail account, for security reasons.
In addition, because of some unfortunate events, during the PostgreSQL upgrade, the database got deleted. This means that I had to re-install the latest Beta of Freemed-YiRC AS WELL AS reset the forum databases :(. I do apologize for this, and promise that I will try to be more responsive in the fourms as well. If you have a BURNING question or problem, the best way to reach me is via e-mail me!
Please let me know if you notice anything wrong with the site!!!

03/29/2001
The Goal: More Secure, More Tolerable, and More Robust!!!
These are SOME of the goals for the Freemed-YiRC project. In light of this, I'm always working on things which I think will benefit the Freemed-YiRC project.
One of those things is MySQLs ability to do Database Replication. Recent events have shown that MySQL is certainly becoming a formidable contender on the free software/open source SQL database arena. And it seems, to me, that they've got PostgreSQL in their cross-hairs. Not only have MySQL decided to GPL their project, but the latest version has been delcared STABLE. This is quite a feat, and is certainly good news for everyone involved.
So I started playing with the Database Replication feature of MySQL today, just for fun. I took two machines (totally different hardware, but similar software (Mandrake 7.1/Apache/PHP4/MySQL/Freemed-YiRC)), and set them up so that they mirrored eachother using the DB Replication features of MySQL. This is a one way feature (Master -> Slave), but you can set them up so that each machine is a Master AND A slave to each other.
It seems to work GREAT! I'm doing nothing special, not even 100BaseT between the machines (I'm using a 48-port 10BaseT HUB (NOT SWITCH, HUB) which carries nearly all the traffic across my entire network). And the changes are apparently happening in REAL TIME. I even turned one of the servers off (a safe shutdown, not a direct turn-off (although I will certainly attempt this later)). I made some changes on the other server, turned the machine back on, and as soon as I could start X-Windows, load Netscape, and log into Freemed-YiRC using the database that had been turned off, the changes had already sync'd up! Wow!
So this is an OBVIOUS candidate for a change in Freemed-YiRC. I am currently looking into how much I'm going to have to modify the Freemed-YiRC core database routines to implement the ability to retreive data from more than one server. But it seems to me no matter how much work will be needed, I'd much like to do it!!! This incredible ability to have server fail-over using COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE is absolutely amazing. I know our agency will benefit from this, and I'm sure there isn't a single agency out there that won't, either.
Check back here for more updates on this and ANYTHING ELSE relating to Freemed-YiRC!

03/23/2001
Freemed-YiRC BETA 0.18 RELEASED!
Well, it's Friday, the sun is out, it's 55 degrees here in Toledo, and I'm blessing the world with Freemed-YiRC Beta0.18!
Beta0.18 contains a number of great enhancements, as well as many bug fixes. One major problem with Beta0.17 was that the MySQL DB Schema wasn't up to speed, and anyone who installed Beta0.17 using MySQL could probably see that a lot of the new features were broken :(. I deeply apologize for this! As for Beta0.18, I've tested it with PostgreSQL and MySQL, so everything SHOULD work OK with either DB.
New in Beta0.18 is the addition of the Timecard, Network Databases, and System Auditng modules. There are prototype ON DUTY/OFF DUTY clients, as well as a script to allow staff to view their current timecard! However, this requires PHP4 due to a function change from PHP3 :(. If you use PHP3 (like this server does), you may see an error in the Timecard View script relating to a round() function. I do apologize for this!
The Network Databases are composed of the Network Machines and Network Domains database. If enabled (through the Control Panel in freemed_yirc-vars.inc file), you can control which machines or Intranet/Internet domains have access to Freemed-YiRC! You can block individual machines, entire domains, or limit domain access to specific machines. Lot's of security features!
Another new security feature is the ability to selectively block users from accessing the system. Let's say you've got a disgruntled employee on leave, and you fear this person logging in and making a mess. Instead of deleting the staff's user access, you can just block him/her out of the system for a while. This new feature is accessible via the User Administration Menu.
The new System Auditing module allows for administrators to keep track of who is logging in from where. If enabled (it's disable by default), the system tracks all logins, logouts, and failed logins to a SQL database for later viewing.
In addition to all of this, I've updated the Freemed-YiRC FAQ to V4.0. If you wish to introduce Freemed-YiRC to someone who is unfamiliar with it, point them towards the FAQ!!!
Well, the Live Demo is set up and ready to go! Please, check it out!!! As always, if there are any bugs or if you have comments, please E-Mail me or post a comment in the Forums!

03/15/2001
More In Store For Freemed-YiRC
We here at LHS - Family & Youth Services are currently using Freemed-YiRC for Clinical Casenotes in one of our group homes. This is not a test it's the real deal. If there are any outstanding issues from Freemed-YiRC Beta0.17, they will be fixed in short order (those bugs pertaining to logging in, menu navigation, and Clinical Casenote (CCN) note creation/editing/deleting, etc...
Once there are a pile of CCN notes written via Freemed-YiRC, I will submit a MACSIS billing using the Freemed-YiRC MACSIS facilities. After I receive confirmation that the billing was accepted, I will post! If there were any problems with the file created by Freemed-YiRC, I will certainly post that, too! At that point, I will have to wait 1.5 to 3 months to see how much of it gets paid. So the waiting game begins...
In the meantime, I've started plotting on how the new TimeCard module of Freemed-YiRC will function and interact. I've already begun coding on the ON DUTY/OFF DUTY scripts.
While doing this coding, I noticed something missing from Freemed-YiRC's security layer that should be there, Location Authentication. As it stands now, Freemed-YiRC does not really 'know' where a user is. What if the server is connected to the Internet, and only certain clients (from certain domains) should be allowed to log in??? I'm adding another module to Freemed-YiRC, the Network Databases. This will involve adding two databases, a Network Machines Database and a Network Domains Database. In the first, specific machines with IP addresses are listed, and in some cases, these machines can be blocked from logging into Freemed-YiRC. In the second database (the Network Domains Database), domain names are listed (for example, familyandyouth.org). Entire domains can be blocked as well (i.e. logins from aol.com, msn.com, etc...). OR, domains can be blocked with the exception of listed machines (familyandyouth.org can be blocked, but the machine 10.0.15.20 can be allowed access, because it's a secure machine (this is an example)). So, this makes Freemed-YiRC that much more secure, and gives administrators the ability to tighten security!
In any case, the Network Database functionality is nearing completion, but work on the timecard system is just beginning. This is going to be a big part of the system, as this is very integrated with the system we currently use here at LHSF&YS. So for those of you currently employing paper timecards, just wait, Freemed-YiRC is coming to your rescue :). The timecard module will allow for data export for use with Accouting/Payroll systems. We currently use a customized software package called EBC (Electronic Bean Counting) that interfaces with our in-house developed timecard system. I'm planning on using the same interface with Freemed-YiRC, so the ability to export timecard data to an external source should be a big PLUS to agencies who deal with the same situation!
Once again, Freemed-YiRC is designed from the bottom up to be totally open! As long as the software you currently use is able to IMPORT data, then it's likely that somehow that data can be EXPORTED from Freemed-YiRC! This applies not only to the forthcoming timecard module, but CFS documents as well. Remember, Freemed-YiRC uses SQL for it's storage. And SQL is notorious for being wide open!

03/08/2001
Freemed-YiRC BETA 0.17 RELEASED!
OK everybody. It's finally here! This is Freemed-YiRC Beta0.17, the precursor to Freemed-YiRC Mark II! There is so much new to this release I can't even fathom where to start. It's been MONTHS since the last release, but BY NO MEANS has the project been dormant. I've been working very hard, and doing much testing of the MACSIS functionality of Freemed-YiRC. Billing is now fully incorporated into Freemed-YiRC. It can now create MACSIS level HCFA-1500 V2 NSF formatted electronic files. There is a ton of error checking involved in this process too, to insure accurate and efficient billing files. As well, printing of CFS notes is now enabled! You can tell Freemed-YiRC what kinds of printers the server can access, what commands are necessary to print, and you're ready! Printers can be any printer the Linux machine can print to, LP, SMB (i.e. Windows-based), local, etc... This is a welcome feature to Freemed-YiRC. Another major addition is the Mobile functionality of Freemed-YiRC. I've developed an 'example' client for use with Windows CE based PocketPCs. This client accurately represents the 'Individual Counseling' casenote format I include with Freemed-YiRC (CFS:CCN:C). A user can write casenotes, and later sync them to the Freemed-YiRC server. Then, a user in Freemed-YiRC can import those notes and they'll be integrated into the Individual Counseling (NID:C) database just like very other Ind. Coun. note! Things like staff and resident lists are also available to be sent to the PocketPC! When I get a chance, I will create a new entry for the FM-YiRC Client on the download page. It was written in Microsoft Embedded Visual Basic, and is unfortunately quite restrained. MS eVB doesn't allow for the same 'dynamic' forms that Freemed-YiRC uses. This means that any agency that uses a 'custom' CFS form in Freemed-YiRC must modify the source code to the FM-YiRC client to get the client's form look to match their custom form look. So this client may not be for every agency, unless there is someone in-house who can program in Embedded Visual Basic (which is a FREE download from the Microsoft website, amazingly).
In any case, please download and check out Freemed-YiRC Beta 0.17!!!!

02/19/2001
Yet Another Update
Exciting things are happening on the Freemed-YiRC front. We're still alpha testing Freemed-YiRC, but development has sprung out two new parts. Soon I will begin working on the MACSIS Electronic Remittance Advise processor, and as well I've already started work on a PocketPC Freemed-YiRC Client! This Client will be for use where access to a network isn't available, or isn't cost effecient. Staff can carry around a PocketPC (i.e. a Casio Cassiopeia, Compaq iPaq, HP Jornada, etc... any WinCE 3.0 device). At first development is going to be centered around Clinical Casenotes and then Incident Reports. All source is written in MS Embedded Visual Basic, and of course, it will be all GPL'd and available for download on this site!

02/01/2001
Another Update
Hello all. We are now in the process of alpha testing using Freemed-YiRC in our actual agency enviornment for use with Clinical Notes & MACSIS! This includes writing clinical notes, as well as editing, printing, etc...
I will be on vacation from Feb 4 to Feb 11, and will not be here to answer any e-mail or do any posts (not like I post often anyway :) ). However, when I come back we'll begin analyzing the alpha-testing, and see how the MACSIS functionality comes into play. If all goes well, Freemed-YiRC Beta 0.17 should be out by the end of the month. But don't hold me to it! :)

01/17/2001
Update
Hello all! I've gotten MUCH work done in the past couple of days. I also created a rudimentary printing program for CFS notes! There is a downside, though... it currently only works with printers that support PostScript (PS). Why? Well, I've never had to implement printing functions in a program before. The easiest way I can find to print something from Freemed-YiRC is to output an HTML file (easy enough, CCN notes are really HTML formatted files anyway), then use the program HTML2PS which does what it says, convers HTML to PostScript, and then feed that raw PS to the print spooler. I realize this is a big problem (being limited to PostScript-enabled printers), and will try to make Freemed-YiRC use all printers available from a spooler. However, this is a start, and it is a very good one! Look forward to Freemed-YiRC Beta0.17!

01/15/2001
Update
I've been quite busy lately with this MACSIS module for Freemed-YiRC! I've re-written the script I previously wrote about. The script did the job, but it was not very effective, and was a monster. The new scripts, on the other hand, I consider to be much better, and much easier to maintain! There are many, many error checks in it. If something goes wrong during a billing, there should be a highly-automated way to make it right, or at least restore things to the way they were before the billing took place. There are many error explainations, too, in case something does go wrong! Look forward to Freemed-YiRC Beta 0.17 sometime either late Jan or sometime in Feb (I will be going on vacation the first full week of Feb, though). Following that, I am aiming on releasing Freemed-YiRC Mark II, which will incorporate full MACSIS billing functionality, as well as printing features for CCN modules!!! I hope to release Freemed-YiRC Mark II sometime within this quarter (1Q2001)!

01/02/2001
Good News
Hope everyone enjoyed their New Year's!
I was able to solve a MAJOR problem here today, and it's going to enable me to finally get back into action here. My script time-out problem is now solved thanks to PHP's 'set_time_limit()' function! I can set that for a high value, and it runs! Great! This is a major hurdle that I'm glad to have gotten past. Now I hope to get some more work done on the script, polishing it, and making sure it does as much error-checking as possible!

12/26/2000
'Nother Update
Hello all. Hope your Christmas' went well, and your New Years is even better. I've run into a wall with my current MACSIS billing script. I've got a good script put together, and for smaller amounts of records ( < 500 or so), it works great. However, for large amounts of records (2,000+), the script always crashes on my test machine(s). On my 233Mhz/64MB home machine, the script will run for 15 minutes straight, then just stop. Here at work on my 400Mhz/64MB and 566Mhz/128MB test machines, it will run for 4 or 6 minutes and then just stop. I've tried playing with PHP & Apache's settings, but to no avail. It seems to me Apache or PHP is sensing that the script is really using up a TON of resources, and decides to kill it in it's tracks. :(. This is very bad, and it means I'm going to have to re-write it to make it more than just one big script. I'm going to have to separate it into many smaller scripts. This means I'm going to have to push back the next release to sometime in 1Q2001... this week is hectic, and the first several weeks of 2001 will also be very busy with end-of-year things going on... will let you all know how things progress (when they do...)!!!

12/01/2000
Update
Releases seeming to get farther apart, eh? Well, I've been working VERY hard here in the past couple of weeks working on HCFA-1500 V2 NSF electronic file generation for MACSIS. As of yesterday, I'm able to generate a very crude file, but I have a ton of more error-checking to install & tons of other stuff to clean up. I'd like to get out a big release before the end of year that includes all the new MACSIS stuff... But time will tell!

11/11/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta 0.16 Released!
OK, I've been tied down with a temporary project that's been taking up my time here at work. However, I'm releasing what I've done so far outside of any MACSIS facilities. I've disabled the MACSIS functionality so that you can demo all the new things that have been added to Freemed-YiRC since Mark I, and there are certainly a lot! In any case, if you wish to enable the MACSIS facilities to see how it's going, you can. I'm releasing Beta0.16 now because it's probably going to be a while before I can get around to getting the MACSIS functionality working in a coherent manner. I've been working on something else for the last week and a half, and probably won't be able to get back to work on Freemed-YiRC until next Tuesday or Wednesday. So, enjoy Freemed-YiRC Beta0.16!

10/27/2000
Another Update
Hello all. No release today. I know it's the last Friday before the end of October, but I just don't have it. I've got quite a few new features working but not fully tested. These include database paging (Contact DB, CFS Note Lists, Security Database), an option to turn certain facilities in Freemed- YiRC OFF - for those who don't need them (CFS-IRS, CFS-CCN, MACSIS)... did I say MACSIS??? Yep. Now this is probably only helpful to agencies in the State of Ohio, but it's somewhat of a priority. I am wondering what other states are doing, and if they're similar to Ohio's MACSIS. If so, it wouldn't take much to create a MACSIS spinoff facility for Freemed-YiRC for that state's Medicaid facilities.
The main reason I am not making a release is I have a problem I need to solve quickly. For security reasons, I've made all pages un-cacheable... meaning you can't press the 'BACK' button to get to many pages or you'll get a message stating that you'll have to hit the 'Reload' button, and in many cases if you hit the 'back' button it will cause an action to be repeated. Not very good. However, on some of my scripts you have to press the 'back' button to fix an error or something. Well that no longer works, and I have to find a work around. I will not turn caching back on because it's such a big security hole, and if Freemed-YiRC is to succeed as a web application, then security is going to be a real big thing, and something that needs to be addressed!!!
In any case, work continues on Beta0.16, and you will be the first to know when it gets out!

10/16/2000
Update
Last week I sent out many e-mails regarding Freemed-YiRC. Haven't received much feedback, but from looking at the download logs, someone is downloading it :).
I also managed to get in two good days of coding in. One comment that I had about Freemed-YiRC was that it's possible to get back into someones session after they've logged out by just using the back button! I've fixed this by telling the browser not to cache anything. It works good, but if you use the back button in the wrong places, it will do things twice. That's something I've got to work on for the next release.

Also, I've finally started to add database paging. Let's say that you've got a Clinical CaseNote database with over 9000 records. Well, right now Freemed-YiRC will try and send the ENTIRE thing to your browser... all 9000 records. This will almost certainly crash your browser. Well, I'm starting to add 'paging' features to most places, which will display only so many records per page. This number is configurable. For instance, you can set it to display anywhere from 25 to 200 entries per page by multiples of 25. That way faster machines on a network can be set to 100 or 200 entries (depending on the speed of the server & workstation), and those with a dial-up can be limited to 25. In addition, I'm adding sorting features to these pages. You can re-sort the database by fields like 'Name', 'Date', etc... a very easy, and very powerful, way to get to the information you really want. I know what it's like going through a DB with like 9000 records looking for a certain record :).

In any case, that's what I'm working on for Beta0.16. (You'll notice that I went from Beta0.14 to Mark I to Beta0.16... Mark I was basically Beta0.15). After I get the cache issues resolved & paging implemented in the Contact DB, CFS, & SecDB sections, then I will get Beta0.16 out. Don't know when. May be the end of next week or later...

In the meantime, keep testing out Freemed-YiRC Mark I! That's what it's for! Let me know what you think!

10/06/2000
Freemed-YiRC Mark I is Here!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to present to you, Freemed-YiRC Mark I!!!!
First off, let me explain exactly what Freemed-YiRC Mark I is. Mark I is a major Beta release of Freemed-YiRC. It is by no means a finished product. However, there are now many fully functional features in it: Contact Database, Security Database, Group Database, User Administration, Clinical CaseNotes (CCN), Incident Report System (IRS), some Clinical Databases, an IMAP E-Mail client, etc...
The purpose of this release is to get a semi-usable piece of code out into the world. In the next few weeks I am going to try and contact many Youth in Residential Care IS/IT/MIS people, and explain to them what Freemed-YiRC is about, and why they may want to consider using it.
Freemed-YiRC Mark I is targetted at Beta Testers. I know you guys are downloading it. But I don't know if you're using it! I don't know if you like it, if you hate it. I need some e-mail. Please send me e-mail!!!
Install it, play with it, hack it. Then show it to your management & executives. Tell 'em it's free. Tell 'em it runs on free software. Tell 'em they don't have to pay licensing fees for Windows NT or whatnot for their servers.
Want more features??? Let me know!
As always, you can download it from the downloads page, and you can try it on-line at the live demo page!

And don't forget to read the new HTML manual!!!

Enjoy it!


10/02/2000
Good News for Windows Users
Well, thanks to a link posted on the Freemed news list by JeffB, I was able to get Apache, PHP 4.0.2, MySQL, & Freemed-YiRC up and running on a Windows98 box!!! While I do recommend that Freemed-YiRC is run for a secured Linux/Unix box, it is possible to run Freemed-YiRC on a Win98 box now. I'm building in the proper utilities into Freemed-YiRC Mark I so this can be done with relatively little effort (namely I needed to add batch files instead of shell scripts to do the initial DB loading). I will appropriate notations in the manual, as well. Look forward to it!!!

09/27/2000
Yet 'Nother Update
I got another good day in yesterday and am working on more today for the Freemed-YiRC manual. So far it's 30 printed pages long (in HTML)!!! It's not made for the faint-hearted. However, it will give a YiRC MIS administrator all the info he/she needs to get Freemed-YiRC up-and-running, and good basis on how the system works, how to navigate around, and details on each part of the system (i.e. CFS, CCN, IRS, etc...). Gonna need some more time, but it is coming along!!! The end of the month may be pushing it, but the end of next week may be a good target date... please hold on, it's coming!!!

09/18/2000
'Nother Update
Well, the middle of September came and went, and still no major release :(.
Don't worry, it's coming. Writing a decent tech manual is a lot harder than one might think! I've been wrapping up the codeing. Trying to make sure every promised feature works. Some will probably slip due to time constraints. In any case, I'm at work on this manual, and I hope everyone will like it! I'm going to need a good few days to work on this thing, though! I will keep everyone updated using this site!

09/12/2000
Update
Haven't had a single day to work on getting Mark I wrapped up until yesterday. Yesterday I managed to get the 'Last Appointment->Initial' and 'Next Appointment->None' features working, finally. Also added a 'Reply' feature to the IMAP E-Mail client, as well as storing the server name and password in cookies instead of the URL :). Also added a list of E-Mail accounts to e-mail instead of having to type it in. For instance, on the test system with 'Frank' and 'Mary', both of them would pop up on a list so you can just point and click their names. You can now also choose multiple names to send to! Mark I is coming along, but I have yet to start on the pretty HTML docs yet...

09/01/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.14 FINALLY released!
Grettings all! I've been going nuts here :). I've decided to release Beta0.14 for a couple of reasons. First off, it's been over a month since I've had a release of Freemed-YiRC. But in that month I've got the rough coding done for the Custom Forms System (CFS). I've got CCN & IRS integrated with it (not fully tested, though, but should work OK). I've also got a simple IMAP E-Mail client going! Lots of new stuff. But lots more to come. Before the first MAJOR release of Freemed-YiRC (i.e. Mark I), I've got a lot of work to do. I've got lots of things to 'pretty up' and a LOT of documentation to write. But it's coming! Enjoy Beta0.14 and let me know if you like it or not!!!

08/29/2000
Getting Closer!
Well, I've done the rough coding for the Custom Forms System (CFS)! I like it very much, and believe it will streamline the code base very well. It will also make the system vastly expandable with mimimal effort. Any type of activity which is 'document' based can use CFS with small modifications. I will be doing this with CaseNotes (CN) and hopefully Service Plans (SP) here pretty soon!
ALSO: I've created a BETA level IMAP E-Mail client! The PHP IMAP functions are, IMHO, the best thing since sliced bread. This client is very, very experimental at this point, as has few features... but it's an integrated part of Freemed-YiRC! No attachments or MIME features yet, but is a very good start, and something I am really looking forward too!!!!
NEXT RELEASE: I'm working on Beta0.14 like every day now. Beta0.14 will be a VERY rough release, but it will contain a number of new features: CFS, CCN via CFS, and a new IRS via CFS!!! Also included will be the BETA level IMAP E-Mail client. This stuff is all ROUGH, but it shows that that I have been doing something for the last month :). I'm not quite on schedule here according to the Project Status page, so I will be updating it.
HOWEVER: I do plan on still having a MAJOR release here sometime in the next two or three weeks. This will include CFS, CCN, IRS, & HTML (and possibly PDF) documentation! The release will be known as Mark I. It will NOT be version 1.0, but rather a pre-release. However, it will be very usable, and it will help me out by (hopefully) getting some community feedback after I relase it. I'm really going to get the word out about Freemed-YiRC Mark I and hopefully get some beta testers out there to give me some feedback. As of right now I still have 0 feedback. None... nada. If you are looking Freemed-YiRC please give me some feedback! Freemed-YiRC is a totally FREE product, but I would still like some input on it! Do you like it? Do you hate it??? Let me know either way!

08/21/2000
YET ANOTHER UPDATE
Last week I did not have one chance to work on Freemed-YiRC due some work that needed to be done here at LHSF&YS. I do hope this week however to get a few days in to get more progress on CFS, CCN, & IRS!!!

08/14/2000
ANOTHER UPDATE
I've gotten the core routines & scripts done for CFS. This is very good news, and I'm glad I was able to set aside the time necessary to do so. I am now able to generate both custom CCN (Clinical CaseNotes) & IRS (Incident Report System) forms from CFS. What's needed next is to edit the code for use with reading the forms for CCN & then copying & modifying them to work with custom IRS forms... I'm trying to make as much centralized as possible with the most flexibility in regards to custom forms... The week looks packed, but if I do manage to get 2 days free I will try and test it against PostgreSQL & MySQL to make sure similar results occur with each, and trying to get a nice package. I think I am still on target for an end-of-the-month MAJOR release, so... here's to hoping...! :)

08/04/2000
UPDATE
No release this week (it may be a while).
I've added a new Project Status page to the site. This page displays all the different parts that make up Freemed-YiRC and the current stage of each. This will change often as my priorities and schedule change, so keep up on it!
I'm hard at work creating a Custom Form System (CFS). This is going to use the code that I've spent so much time on for use with creating the custom Clinical Casenote forms. When I get CFS down to an engine and a ton of functions (right now it's just a bunch of PHP files for use only with the CCN), I'm going to modify the CCN to use it, as well as re-design the IRS to use it. This means every agency can have their own custom forms for nearly any part of the system. Soon after the completion of CFS, CCN, & IRS, I'm then going to start on regular Clinical Casenotes (CN), again using CFS.
Freemed-YiRC publised in OACCA newsletter!!! This is great news, and is a good way to get the word out about Freemed-YiRC. I look forward to listening to what anyone has to say!

07/28/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.13 Released!!!
Just a week after the major release of Beta0.12, Freemed-YiRC is dropping one more on you here with Beta0.13!!! In Beta0.13 Freemed-YiRC has (hopefully) gone full circle here and now includes a Clinical Casenote Editor! This includes the ability to edit group casenotes by only editing one note! Also added the ability to embed images into a Clinical CaseNote format!!! And that's not to mention that Freemed-YiRC is PHP4 compatible!!! Yep, that's right. PLEASE READ THE 'CHANGELOG' AND 'NEWS' FILES FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PHP3 USERS!!!. And last, but not least, I've added a small help system for dealing with security permission explanations.

07/22/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.12 Released!!!
After what seems like an eternity, I've finally released Beta0.12 of Freemed-YiRC. There are so many changes I can't list them all, so please see the ChangeLog, the NEWS file, the datamodels (especially CCNFORM 1-3), and, of course, the demo! This release contains the HEAVILY REVISED input screens for your custom designed Clinical Casenote forms!!! In addition, I've done a lot of modification to ensure all Clinical Casenote functions work with MySQL!

07/19/2000
Mo' News
I'm working very hard on wrapping up Beta0.12. This is going to be a VERY BIG release for Freemed-YiRC. Beta0.11 was broken is very many respects. While it did show you what it could do (in terms of clinical casenotes) a lot of the functionality was not implemented and some of it was just plain broken I'm finding to great disdain. Howerver, I'm trying to run Beta0.12 through many scenarios to make sure that it works no matter what is thrown at it. And this is very hard, due to the custom nature of the forms. On of the biggest aspects of Beta0.12 will be it's addition of group forms. In a group situation there is static data between forms (information that is the same from form to form in the same session (i.e. the date, start time, end time, location, etc...)) and there is data which is dynamic, special to each individual form (resident name, invoice number, etc...). I feel that Freemed-YiRC will be very robust in this situation. Especially in terms of it's point and click nature. Date and time fields have drop down menus to selections, diagnosis code fields are linked to the residents, etc... A lot of things have been implemented to try and make things a little more simpler for the end-user (as well as the admin!). It's been nearly a month since the last release of Freemed-YiRC, and while half of that time I've spent on vacation, I've also spent a lot of time trying to make Freemed-YiRC viable as a free, open-source solution to agencies which can't afford, or are unwilling, to pay the massive licenses for commercial programs, which are often obsolete very quickly and require expensive, extensive contracts. In any case, I am desparately seeking feedback from the community. After I release Beta0.12, I currently plan on coding the editor for Clinical Casenotes. I'm hoping it will piece together nicely, and it should prove time saving (especially in terms of group casenotes). After this release (Beta0.13), I plan on revising the Incident Report System to make it completely customizable. At that point, with a very functional Clinical Casenote system (CCN) and Incident Report System (IRS), as well as the underlying security, contact, and group databases, I wish to aggresively communicate with the industry. I hope to encourge MIS managers to give it a test and let me know what it needs and where they'd like it to go. REMEMBER... this product is being developed for community use! So I need to know what the community needs from it!

07/17/2000
NEWS
UPDATE:
I've updated and posted the Freemed-YiRC FAQ (V2.0). Also, I did not mention that I am planning on radically altering the Incident Report System. What I currently plan on doing is a custom forms creator/designer not unlike what I'm doing with the Clinical Casenote system... However, this will not be done until I'm most of the way finished with my work on the Clinical Casenote system.

Undoubtedly many are waiting for some news on Freemed-YiRC! Well, I just spent last week at the Comdex in Toronto and I've come back with a better understanding of 'where things are going' in terms of Internet technologies and so forth. I'm going to be updating the Freemed-YiRC FAQ here pretty soon with a more up-to-date TODO list of things I want to add into Freemed-YiRC. This will include things like possible biometric ID modules, IMAP local mail, etc... One of the biggest things I came away with was XML. It seems to me that this is going to be the next BIG thing in information transfer, and I think the YiRC community should take a SERIOUS look at XML as a way for agencies to communicate information to each other. In any case, there is a lot to do, and I hope to get some time to implement it!

06/27/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.11 Released!!!
After many days and nights of coding, Freemed-YiRC now has many new Clinical CaseNote features!!! These include import/export functionality, as well as the ability to finally input data into those custom forms! No error-checking has been implemented yet, but it's getting there!!!

06/09/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.10 Released!!!
The TENTH Beta release of Freemed-YiRC is now available for download!!! New in Beta0.10 is more work on the Clinical CaseNote forms designer/generator. There is now error-checking when finished as well as automatic SQL generation of your custom table (taken from the structure of the form YOU designed!!!)! In the next release (or the one after that...) you should be able to start inputting data into your custom forms!

05/26/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.09 Released!!!
Hi all! After some blood sweat and tears I've put together an EXTREMELY ALPHA forms generator/designer for doing customized Clinical Casenote forms. Please read the file CLINICALCCN thoroughly as well as the datamodel files CCNFORM1, CCNFORM2, and CCNFORM3!!!! Enjoy! Remember, I NEED FEEDBACK!

05/04/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.08 Released!!!
OK... I've managed to pack up another release here for the world. Freemed-YiRC Beta0.08 incorporates integreated spell-checking functions based on the Linux shell program 'ispell'! Also new is some new clinical casenote stuff, however, nothing quite usable yet.
NOTE:
Someone managed to delete the security records in the last 'live demo'. I have not placed any kind of bar to keep this from happening again because I want everyone to be able to go in and look at what it does and for what it is... if I have to modify every release just to keep this from happening again it won't be 'as real'...

05/01/2000
Working on Beta0.08
Hi all, I know it's been more than a week since my last release, but I'm working on a ton of stuff for Freemed-YiRC here. I'm considering a custom forms generator for the clinical casenote section. Any input??? (Use the forum!!!) Also in the works is an integrated spell checker using ispell. It will be really cool and should make some really bad spellars happy (as well as the administrators who have to fix the errors (for those agencies who do :)!!!). In any case, I'm looking at a release date of Friday with the inclusion of the spell checker, but the full Clinical Casenote part will take some time (but will be released piece by piece!!!).

04/20/2000
New Forum Section Added To Site!!!
Well, today is essentialy Friday so I've got some new stuff :)
If you look on the top banner you'll see a new link... to the Freemed-YiRC discussion forums!!! It's my hope these (very simple) forums will encourage feedback and give users a place to suggest ideas and ask for help. Don't hesitate to make comments or give suggestions!!!
I will also release Freemed-YiRC Beta0.07 as soon as I get it all packaged up!
UPDATE: I've released Freemed-YiRC Beta0.07!
New to Freemed-YiRC is a lot of Incident Report changes. One can now track an IR (see who viewed or edited a particular IR). Also, IRs can now be MERGED (i.e. moved to an 'old' file) for archive status. A 'Program Coordinator' field has been added to denote... Program Coordinators. Now two-tone row backgrond colors make for easier reading!

04/14/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.06 releasted!!!
New to Freemed-YiRC is the addition of a console utility called 'fy_backup' which can create a complete backup (file and SQL data) of Freemed-YiRC suitable for storage on a floppy, CD-R, or FTPd to a backup server! Also added is the staff-contact specific fy_con_staff_tottrain which keeps track of staff's total training hours based on anniversary year by Date Of Hire (DOH).
04/13/2000
Freemed-YiRC FAQ
I've created a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for Freemed-YiRC and have posted it to the site. It gives some background on Freemed-YiRC and should answer some questions about what Freemed-YiRC does and is going to do.
FYI: I've created a small utility for Freemed-YiRC which should do a complete backup of all the files AND SQL data (using the PostgreSQL pg_dump or mysqldump programs) for use in creating backups! These files can then be backed up to tape, floppy, or even burned to CD-ROM. I will include this utility in Beta0.06 when it gets released (maybe tomorrow!!!).
04/06/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.05 releasted!!!
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.05 contains some minor bug fixes and A TON of new stuff. New is the addition of some of the resident-specific contact information, the addition of some clinical databases (Service Codes, Diagnostic Codes, Place of Service (POS) Codes, and Service Code Modifiers), and the ability to upload a picture into the system for a resident or staff contact! Many of the data models have changes and more files have been added. All data models for Beta0.05 are now on the site in both .PM5 (Pagemaker 5) and .PDF (Adobe Acrobat), so please check them out. Also, be sure the read the ChangeLog and the other documentation!
04/04/2000
PDF format Beta0.04 data models
I've finally managed to get the PDF versions of the data models on-line for Beta0.04.
03/24/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.04 released!!!
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.04 fixes some major bugs in Beta0.03. New in Beta0.04 is the addition of the staff specific info in the contact database. On the main contact screen the last field of each line should be blank for a standard contact, should have a link for 'Resident Info' if it's a Resident, or should have a link for 'Staff Info' if it's a staff. The 'Resident Info' link is broken since that is not currently implemented. However, the 'Staff Info' link will display the staff specific info for a staff contact. This information is detailed in the data models!!! Please read the CHANGELOG for a more detailed list of updates to Freemed-YiRC Beta0.04.
03/09/2000
Freemed-YiRC Beta0.03 released!!!
Freemed-YiRC now supports both PostgreSQL and MySQL!!! There are many, many bug fixes as well as added functions and features. This includes the addition of the SQL abstraction functions as well as date processing functions. Also new is the addition of a group main menu for group-specific programs. The Incident Report Database is one such program and has now been moved to the group menu (it only appears on group menus which are 'Home', not 'Other').
02/28/2000
The new site is up!!!
Sorry to those of you who had download/gunzip problems!!! I must have done something wrong. The problem should be corrected now! NEW - Beta0.02 is now up! The PM5 data models are on the new download page, too. When I get the PDFs I will post! The site should look very different either today or tomorrow!
02/25/2000
The entire server is new :). I aplogize for the look and feel, this will certainly be changing soon here. This is a 15-minute job just to get everything up and running for public access. Be sure and check out the LIVE DEMO! That's right, freemed-yirc.familyandyouth.org is running a live version of Freemed-YiRC here on the server for your perusal!