Update 12:41 pm: fixed the first link.

Michael Millenson, whom we welcomed to SPM in December with his first post here, submits this, about his latest work:

How has listening to the patient’s voice grown from an ethical demand of the patient rights movement into a series of specific, measurable behaviors? That question, and issues of patient engagement and overall patient centeredness are examined in a new policy paper I co-authored with a colleague at the Urban Institute with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Will the Affordable Care Act Move Patient-Centeredness to Center Stage? also outlines the scientific evidence about how better communication between providers and patients can improve the quality of care and lower its cost. It is, of course, just one aspect of participatory medicine, but an important one. And, of course, it’s always important to connect formal policies to the objective of greater patient empowerment.