This article is out on the Houston Psychiatric Society website: “Three major healthcare groups: Harris (Houston) and Tarrant (Dallas) County Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority (MHMRA) and Gateway to Care are either near Request for Proposal (RFP) or already have proposals for Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. A decision will be made in the next two months. Linking the MHRMRA’s and Gateway to Care via the same EMR system would be a historic, rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For the success of these initiatives and the future of our patients, it is of critical importance that the systems chosen 1) be non-proprietary, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) licensed products and 2) use the same software base. Advocacy for such a system by Houston Psychiatric Society and its members is crucial.”