hc’s problem list
e-patient stories, general, hc's problem list, pts as teachers, reforming hc, Why PM
“When I became a patient, I felt my identity slipping away.”
Participatory medicine requires an empowered partnership, in which patients express their wants and pursue their goals in partnership with providers who hear them and work together. And that’s not just about the biology. In this powerful narrative, a hospital executive becomes a patient, sees what it’s like to be stripped of everything and not heard, [...]
Read Moree-patient stories, hc's problem list, JoPM, Why PM
Two roads ahead: “I fear to be a patient” vs. “Opportunities for Patient-Clinician Partnership”
Treat yourself to 3 minutes of Don Berwick’s 2009 speech on patient-centered care, which at a certain point becomes an elegy: Now cheer yourself up with the latest article from the Journal of Participatory Medicine: “The Cancer Supportive Care Model: A Patient-Partnered Paradigm Shift in Health Care Delivery,” by Elias Anaissie and Tara Mink.
Read Moree-patient stories, hc's problem list, pts as teachers, Why PM
Powerful new “Doctor becomes an e-patient” story in Journal of Participatory Medicine
Two years ago we wrote “Let’s hear it for the ‘d-patients’” — doctors who become e-patients themselves. We said “D-patients prove that patient empowerment is anything but anti-doctor. Heck, sometimes it’s a doctor preservation movement.” A new article in our Journal of Participatory Medicine provides a compelling example: A Physician’s Experience as a Cancer of the [...]
Read Moregeneral, hc's problem list, medical records, trends & principles
Rest in Peace: Personal Health Records (PHRs)
While doing some research the other day on personal health records (PHRs), I came across this article, describing Revolution Health’s announcement — without much media attention — about dropping its PHR at the beginning of 2010. (Disclosure: I worked for Revolution Health in 2005-2006, and now have a business relationship with the company that acquired [...]
Read Morehc's problem list, policy issues, research issues
Making Strides Toward Improving Health Literacy Online
This is a guest post by Jessica Mark, healthfinder.gov and Outreach Program Manager, Health Communication and eHealth Team in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services We all struggle with complex health information. In fact, as many as 9 out of 10 adults experience limited [...]
Read Morehc's problem list, practice variation, shared decision making, Why PM
Practice variation and shared decision making on CBS Evening News
In December we posted about practice variation and shared decision making (SDM), a field of research originated at Dartmouth decades ago and best known as publisher of the Dartmouth Atlas, which describes the amazing amount of unexplained variation in how many doctors prescribe what, in different areas of the country. For me personally this has been [...]
Read Morehc's problem list, policy issues, pt/doc co-care
Avoiding harm in the hospital
I spoke recently at a summit organized by Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project, and learned in detail about the persistence and prevalence of hospital-acquired infections and other safety risks. Hospitals are not as safe as they should and could be, and hospital safety advocates are working hard to turn that around. Joe and Terry Graedon [...]
Read Morehc's problem list, patient networks, reforming hc
The Future of Health: Robots, Enchanted Objects, and Networks
I have seen the future of health and it’s networks (with apologies to Lincoln Steffens). Chronic disease is exploding in the U.S. The number of primary care health professionals is declining. Behavior change is difficult. But what are we going to do about it? Here are three ideas I’ve brought back from my travels: robots, [...]
Read Morehc's problem list, patient networks
To improve health and health care faster… (fill in the blank)
I was honored to be invited to TEDMED by the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Their team encouraged all attendees to complete one of three sentences: “To improve health and health care, we need to start asking…” “To improve health and health care faster, we must…” “My bold idea for transforming health [...]
Read Morefound on the net, hc's problem list
Readers Digest: “Doctors confess their fatal mistakes”
My mom shot me a note today about this cover story in the new Reader’s Digest. Unhappy reading but good patient education. Cites some familiar names, e.g. Peter Pronovost and Robert Wachter. It’s good to see “wake up” messages in the mass media, as with Elizabeth Cohen’s new “Empowered Patient” CNN special.
Read More


