Why Participatory Medicine?

November 9, 2009 · Filed Under Why PM, medical records, positive patterns, pt/doc co-care, trends & principles · 30 Comments

For most people, their impetus to be actively engaged in healthcare comes from an experience with serious illness—either their own or a loved one’s. My journey into participatory medicine began during my internal medicine residency at Boston City Hospital, a public urban hospital, in the late 1980s. While there, I had a number of realizations that led to my passion for participatory medicine.

The first was that educating patients and communicating with them effectively pays big dividends in improved health behaviors and outcomes. It is the most cost effective intervention we can offer. Moreover, this only happens in an environment of mutual respect. In almost every patient, there is something to be treasured and respected. Hopefully, they feel the same about us.

Next I realized that so much of what we do in healthcare is information management. An extraordinary effort is invested into locating, organizing, recording, and regurgitating information that is used in patient care. More on this later.

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“Doctors Are Killing Their Profession, the Healthcare System and Their Patients with Paternalism”

October 3, 2009 · Filed Under Why PM, net-friendly docs, pt/doc co-care, reforming hc, trends & principles · 1 Comment

That’s the strongest language yet in our “Why Participatory Medicine” series. And it’s not our words – it’s the words of a board certified neurosurgeon after he heard the Participatory Medicine message at Medicine 2.0 last month. The message echoed his thoughts, and he blogged about it.

The “DocPatient” blog, by Dr. Louis Cornacchia of Doctations, has quite a tagline:

Internet healthcare is inevitable. Done right, it can initiate enormously positive change in the U.S. healthcare system. The only way for it to be done right is for doctors and patients to work together to make it happen.

Sounds like participatory medicine to me!

And my Google Alert just popped up a post he wrote shortly after the conference: “Doctors Are Killing Their Profession, the Healthcare System and Their Patients with Paternalism.” Even I wouldn’t put it that strongly, but then I’m not an MD – and I’ve certainly never been through medical training, about which he says:

Every day, medical schools indoctrinate upcoming doctors with paternalistic behaviors. “Your patients don’t want to know the details, they want to get well, its your responsibility to make them well.” “You, doctor, should shoulder the responsibility.”

About paternalism itself, he continues: Read more

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