by Eric Bersh | May 29, 2025
Editor’s Note: This is the second part of Josh Rubin’s post. The first was published on May 23, 2025 Building Upon a Powerful Foundation of Patient Empowerment In part 1 of this post I paraphrased Dr. Casey Means (referencing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.), noting that...
by Eric Bersh | May 23, 2025
Editor’s Note: This post (in two parts) builds upon email correspondence the author sent to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and key members of his Make America Health Again (MAHA) team beginning in November 2024. It aims to illuminate alignment between three principles (and...
by Danny Sands, MD | May 6, 2024
I care for a diverse population of individuals in my primary care practice. It’s hard enough to motivate behavior change in people who have little motivation, but it’s even more challenging when it’s hard to connect with them because of cultural disparities....
by Eric Bersh | Apr 6, 2024
To implement successful change you must, unequivocally, understand the culture of the environment you are looking to change. Culture and change management are inextricably connected. Culture is a made up of a series of repeated, engrained, and expected behaviors and,...
by Eric Bersh | Mar 28, 2024
I have a confession to make: I’m not always an effective advocate for my own care. It’s probably helpful for me to put this into context. I have been working in and around healthcare organizations for more than 25 years. I’m a researcher by trade, and worked with...
by e-Patient Dave | Oct 15, 2023
Be cautious, be wise: AI tools like ChatGPT sometimes makes things up! Would you want a doctor who does that?? You can use AI to gather information and probe deeply for more details. But check your facts before you act. See tips at end of post. The world is still...
by e-Patient Dave | Oct 2, 2023
Since our beginning in 2009 a big part of the vision for our Society has been to spread the word. Toward that end, this month I’m doing a talk at the Massachusetts Council on Aging annual conference, to launch a new topic I’ll be using in local community...
by e-Patient Dave | Sep 26, 2023
I had an idea last week and just tried it. ChatGPT is awesome at summarizing things, but could it handle medical notes? They’re complicated. It worked! I took the visit notes from my last doctor appointment (the whole big, long, detailed thing) and asked...
by Eric Bersh | Sep 25, 2023
Emergency medicine has always been a collaborative practice, where teamwork and communication are paramount as first responders, nurses and physicians work together knowing that every second counts. While much has been written about collaboration during the clinical...
by Eric Bersh | Aug 28, 2023
From shared-decision making, patient-centered care and value-based care to common technology innovations, healthcare players often describe how we aspire healthcare to be in concepts, buzzwords, branding and what has become common lexicon mentioned in conversations...
by Eric Bersh | Aug 17, 2023
I was born with a congenital heart defect called bicuspid aortic stenosis with regurgitation. When I was 12 years old I was told I needed immediate open-heart surgery. As the anxiety, depression and sheer terror set in, my family tried to distract me by taking me on...
by Eric Bersh | Jul 12, 2023
Editor’s note: Ibrahim Rashid contracted Long COVID more than two years ago. The experience is propelling his patient advocacy and entrepreneurship, as co-founder of the digital health company Strong Haulers. In this excerpt from his new book, Strong Hauler: Learning...
by Eric Bersh | Jun 6, 2023
My brother Jacob was born with a chronic neurological condition that caused him permanent physical and mental disabilities. As the only other child in a single parent family, I was often with Jacob during his frequent hospital stays and doctor visits. It is through...
by Eric Bersh | May 17, 2023
At some point in our lives, we’ll be handed a little sheet of paper from our physician that has scribbled on it the medication we need, how much of it, and how often we should take it. These little slips of paper are power. They tell us that in order to get better, we...
by Eric Bersh | May 2, 2023
Twenty-five years ago, I learned I had a large liposarcoma in my left quadricep. I have written elsewhere about my surprise when my surgeon informed me that he and the team had changed the treatment plan. What team? Who are these people? Why wasn’t I at the team...
by Eric Bersh | Apr 20, 2023
When I describe the concept of participatory medicine, people who work in the healthcare industry often confuse it with other change initiatives, like social determinants of health or better access to care. It’s a different story when I describe participatory...
by Eric Bersh | Mar 6, 2023
Editor’s note: In her book, Rare Like Us: From Losing My Dad to Finding Myself in a Family Plagued By Genetic Disease, Taylor Kane shares the invaluable lessons she learned growing up in a family plagued by a genetic disease so rare that most doctors have never seen...
by Eric Bersh | Feb 14, 2023
Throughout my time as a psychotherapist specializing in end of life diseases, primarily cancer, I have spent many hours talking with both patients and medical teams about the importance of authentic communication and end of life planning. I see this kind of planning...
by Eric Bersh | Feb 1, 2023
Flash back to my article for the Society for Participatory Medicine last year: Let’s Save the Date and Make Patient Engagement Official in 2022. I’m here to deliver some great news: we tied the knot! By the power vested in clinical research, the FDA now pronounces us...
by Eric Bersh | Jan 11, 2023
I recently saw The Color of Care, a documentary highlighting the disparate and inequitable care received by Black and Brown individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the movie, Executive Producer Oprah Winfrey opined that one of the primary issues with...
More important than Time and MoneyFebruary 5, 2025
We Can Change the US Healthcare System: Your Health, Your VoiceJanuary 15, 2025
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