e-Patients Blog
The blog of the Society for Participatory Medicine. Want to be a contributor?
E-patient Interview: Stirrup Queen
Cheryl Miller has written an excellent article, "Blogging Infertility," in The New Atlantis. She brings up a lot of themes that have been echoing throughout my other reading: a once-silent group newly empowered by the internet; teaming patients with similar profiles;...
Patients Rating Hospitals? What Next!?
Dr. Robert Wachter has an interesting essay over at THCB entitled, Should Patient Satisfaction Scores Be Adjusted for Where Patients Shop? As health care in the U.S. continues to move […]
“You can do it. We can help.”
That’s Home Depot’s slogan and the subject of an excellent essay by Amy Tenderich of Diabetes Mine. Be sure to read the comments, where there is a healthy debate going […]
Health Care Consumerism
The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions released a very interesting report on “Health Care Consumerism” which looks at five “zones” of activity: traditional health services, self-directed care, alternative and non-conventional […]
Doctors Discuss How to Deal with e-Patients
“A well-educated patient is easier to treat. A badly educated patient is very difficult to treat.” This and other choice quotes you’ll find in, How to deal with the digitally […]
Impact of “Fee for Service” payment
I haven’t backtracked to the original article this editorial cites. In my view, it looks like big evidence of the impact of FFS (fee for service). Quality Care at Bargain […]
Prevention is the Best Investment
David Brown over at the Washington Post wrote an article yesterday noting that prevention isn’t necessarily cheaper than “doing nothing” and letting people get sick. Well, “Duh,” I say. Prevention […]
Neither patients nor the Internet nor the healthcare system is flawless.
As I talk to people about participatory medicine and the e-patient principles, often the first belief to transform is that it’s inherently risky to “do your own googling” and inherently […]
Serial referral delays are harm
I want to introduce a term: “serial referral delays.” I assert that serial referral delays are harm, and they’re a metric we can track at any level from individual hospital […]
Thank you, Dr. Tom
I’m going to express something very personal here, because the community behind this blog is going through a profound transition, and it’s time for an acknowledgement. Please consider supporting […]
Lookout for Illness! Here it Comes!!
Shannon Brownlee had a great piece in the Washington Post the other day about how, as we live older, and hopefully more healthy lives, we’re being reminded more and more […]
NON-Practicing Patients
It took me a few days to digest what was troubling me with the New York Times Magazine article. The efficacy of the ACOR groups is based in part on […]