A Twitter chat this morning, prompted by SPM member John Sharp, produced a rapid and wonderful change in an ongoing problem: so often articles about patients aren’t open to patients. In this case it’s an intriguing new article today in the esteemed New England Journal of Medicine: “Time for a Patient-Driven Health Information Economy?”
Well, tweets sent to lead author Ken Mandl led within an hour to them opening access!
Your assignment: go make it worth their effort – go read it, think, and if you have something to contribute on the subject, comment! (That’s the “Submit a Letter” link on the sidebar, as shown below. Or, of course, discussion here is welcome, or on Twitter, or Facebook, or LinkedIn – publishers love it when their articles get traction on social media.)
A special hat tip for wisecracking goes to SPM Board Member at Large Peter Elias, a recently retired primary care physician, for popping up on Facebook with the New Yorker cartoon below. :-)
Seriously – go read.
Congratulations for getting this article accessed openly…it is an outstanding piece that sheds light on the current state and importantly points the way to a more participatory environment of providers and patients…thanks to those for prompting the editors to make this article openly available.