Here’s the latest in a series of posts by and about the outstanding speakers we’ve lined up for the Society for Participatory Medicine’s second annual conference on Oct. 17 in Boston, attached to the prestigious Connected Health conference. Register here. (Our #SPM2018 series has more about the speakers and activities.)

For SPM conference speaker Kristina Sheridan, “Transforming Patient Voices into Hard Data” is not just her session title, it’s a mission at work and at home.

Kristina, department head, Enterprise Strategy and Transformation, at The MITRE Corporation, was a primary caregiver for her daughter, Kate, who became seriously ill due to series of complications from Lyme Disease.

Kristina and her daughter co-presented their personal stories–caregiver and patient–at the HIMSS annual conference this past March on the topic, “Democratizing Patient Data: A Story of Patient Empowerment.” [That link is the video of their riveting presentations.] The mother-daughter session, which drew loud applause from an audience of clinicians, patients, caregivers and health IT professionals, focused on using patient-generated data to help track symptoms and changes in Kate’s condition, and communicate more effectively with her care team.

Kate, a recent graduate from George Mason University, is now studying overseas at the University of Oxford. At the conference Kristina will show a video of Kate describing the topic of using patient data to empower oneself.

On the eve of the HIMSS conference, Kristina was quoted by the publication Healthcare IT News as saying, “To truly empower patients, we need to invest in tools that will ease the burden of their illness on a daily basis and help them capture their input in real time, as they think of it, rather than expecting them to remember a month of changes during their appointments.”

In a recent email interview, Kristina expanded on the topic. “My experience caring for my children when they were sick taught me that patients become experts in everyday living with chronic conditions,” she said. “They are the only ones who can describe the impact on their life, the quality of their life, what is most important to them, and how their treatment plan has impacted them.” She added, “The patient voice adds value and listening to patients is critical to improving health outcomes.”

Join Us for #SPM2018 in Boston October 17

Learn more about SPM’s second annual conference on Oct. 17 in Boston or register here today ($100 for members/$150 for non-members). In our early years it’s priced as a great bargain for a full day. And see this blog’s #SPM2018 series for more about the speakers and activities.