The MultiService Forum (MSF) is well established within the global industry, with a successful track record spanning over six years since its formation in 1998. With BT a founder member, it is perhaps not surprising that the work of the MSF has developed over the years to fully reflect the needs of major carriers. Enjoying now a large membership comprising many leading network operators and global suppliers of telecommunications network equipment, the MSF provides a unique environment for constructive collaboration. Its mission is to accelerate the deployment of open communications systems that realise the economic benefit resulting from the flexible support of a full range of network services using multiple infrastructure technologies -more relevant today than ever before. This paper reviews the work of the MSF -its scope, organisation and achievements. With its unique collaboration framework, the MSF provides a 'one stop shop' for forward-looking companies and organisations that see the competitive advantage that can be achieved by collaborating on issues of common concern. With a meaningful agenda formulated from six years experience, the MSF is at the forefront of leading carrier's plans to implement the networks of the 21st century today. From architecture, through protocol profiling and global MSF interoperability testing (GMI2002, GMI2004), the MSF provides a cost-effective framework to develop implementation agreements which are of benefit to carriers and suppliers alike.

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A multi‐institutional alliance composed of leading spine surgery departments from around the country was chartered to prospectively collect and analyze outcomes data. The project provides a template for the effective use of dissemination and collection technology in an outcomes study. METHODS: Geographically diverse participants representing Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Emory Clinic, Henry Ford Hospital, University of New Mexico, Lahey Hitchcock Clinic, Lovelace Health System, and Mayo Clinic worked together and established a technology base to combine and disseminate project information. A project web‐page, located on a commercial server, established the platform for recording and providing information to the sites. The data processing center for the collaboration also developed a software package for patient tracking and administration. It provided efficient, cost‐effective processes for data acquisition, confidential management, coding, and transmission of project data. The system also facilitated the design, printing, and real‐time scoring of scannable survey forms which were customizable to each site. RESULTS: The web‐pages provided increased interest in the project both from within and outside of the consortium. Establishing the patient management software across sites was challenging; however, the technology proved beneficial and worth the effort. The program kept patient demographic information confidential and operational staffing costs associated with processing each questionnaire low, approximately $0.74. It also kept data collection and entry standards uniform across the country. CONCLUSION: This collaboration demonstrates the benefits and limitations of using advanced information technology suitable to pharmacoeconomic outcomes research. Several key factors involved in the success of the project included keeping web‐pages updated for dissemination of information and creating useable software for uniform patient management and tracking at each site.