Podcast details: MP3, stereo, 128 kbps, 11.6 MB, running time 12:39

This is a very special interview I did with Sam Bierstock, M.D., a health IT consultant with IBM, but perhaps better known as the harmonica-playing leader of Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Blues Band (a.k.a. Dr. Sam and the Frivolous Action Blues Band).

He and keyboard player John Melnick have combined to write and perform "Before You Go," a special musical tribute to the thinning ranks of veterans of World War II.

Dr. Sam discusses the motivation behind the song and the incredible response there has been since he posted it for free access at www.beforeyougo.us a little more than a month ago. As of Friday, the site was being accessed at the astounding rate of 50,000 times a day.

He requests that people pass along the link to any World War II veterans they know. As the grandson of a living WWII vet, I am happy to oblige.

I apologize for the echo when I speak, as I had to convert the original MP3 file to WAV format in order to edit in a clip of the song, then re-convert the finished product to MP3. Sound quality always suffers in the MP3-to-WAV translation.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Interview with Fred Trotter, GPL Medicine proponent, on "free" and other open-source software for healthcare. MP3, mono, 64kbps, 18.5 MB, running time 40:27.

0:55 Definition of GPL software

2:30 Definition and discussion of "free" software

5:25 Why he believes GPL is the only "morally acceptable" license in medicine

6:35 GPL vs. proprietary licenses

10:35 Making money with GPL licenses

11:45 Critical nature of medical software

13:15 Software keeping up with changes in the law

16:05 "Vendor lock-in" for customers

19:40 Trotter's experience in healthcare programming

21:35 Three important GPL projects: FreeMed, OpenEMR and ClearHealth

23:10 VistA

24:30 VistA-Office EHR

29:20 How VistA-Office might change the EHR market

33:30 Problems with hybrid electronic/paper record systems

34:50 GPL allows users to improve software

36:20 Why VistA improved VA healthcare

38:40 Fixing the broken healthcare system

Interview with Girish Kumar, founder and vice president of sales and marketing, eClinicalWorks, re: personal health records. MP3, mono, 64kbps, 9.3 MB, running time 20:18

Interview with Jordan Glogau, chief technology officer, Preferred Health Resources re: Hurricane Katrina assistance

MP3, mono, 64kbps, 6.5 MB, running time 14:16

1:05 Explanation of plan

2:45 Open-source software

3:10 Standards

3:45 Rude interruption by Call Waiting beep

4:40 Power of the Internet to solve problems

5:45 Disease surveillance

7:25 HIPAA

9:10 Urgency of situation

10:40 Interest from others in health IT

11:35 Quick deployment of technology

12:20 How to get in touch

13:30 Call for action

Interview with Stephen Hau, founder and vice president of marketing and development, PatientKeeper. MP3, mono, 64kbps, 11.7 MB running time 25:39