e-Patients Blog
The blog of the Society for Participatory Medicine. Want to be a contributor?
JoPM book review: “Out of Her Mind”
The Journal of Participatory Medicine has just published a review of "Out of Her Mind: Women Writing on Madness." Writer Meredith Linden, who lives with bipolar disorder, describes how the selections in this book can help validate people struggling with mental...
How about PHR = *Portable* Health Record?
I'm at the second face-to-face meeting of the Consumer Consortium of the National eHealth Collaborative, a gathering of 180+ stakeholder groups working on the consumer engagement aspect of health IT. Everyone talks about PHRs as Personal Health Records, but one...
Social media, patients, and physicians: a sticky wicket
Social media is well established in our society and it shows much promise as a tool of patient-physician communication. But despite some cases of good and enriching rapport between patients and physicians in social media, the medical world, on the whole, is still...
Communication, A Vital Skill for Participatory Medicine
Guest post by SPM member Nancy B. Finn, author of the forthcoming book e-Patients Live Longer: The Complete Guide to Managing Your Health Using Technology. Participatory medicine depends on the availability of health information to all members of a care team....
NOT an e-patient: freaks out at the first search result
An SPM member [name redacted - wishes to remain anonymous :–)] emailed this, with the playful subject line "A New e-Patient": (Click the image to go to the high-res on the comic's site; © Copyright 2011 King Features Syndicate, all rights reserved.) Funny comic, but...
Twenty years ago today: “The WWW Project aims to allow links…”
O'Reilly Media's Alex Howard, who tweets as @Digiphile, dropped this gem in the stream today: "1991: "The WWW project aims to allow links to be made to any information anywhere"-@timberners_lee http://j.mp/r8bckt /HT @Zee" Well that's a link you gotta click, if you're...
What You Can Do if You See Slipshod Health Care News
Check out Gary Schwitzer of Health News Review on actions you can and should take. Part of a short five part video series. http://www.healthnewsreview.org/blog/2011/07/part-5-of-video-series-what-you-can-do-if-you-see-slipshod-health-care-news.html
Tune in to hear Retraction Watch on Science Friday
One of the most common questions about e-patient skills is how to tell the difference between good and bad information, as we research. A wonderful resource just passed its first birthday: Retraction Watch, a blog that digs into the details when science falls short....
Medicare releases hugely important hospital quality/safety data
I'm about to board a plane at 5 a.m. so this is a quick preliminary note. One of the key skills an engaged, informed patient needs is how to find good quality care. Today USA Today reports that Medicare has just released information that I think we've had a right to...
Introducing Sue Woods, new SPM board member
The Society for Participatory Medicine  recently named three new board members. They've been introduced to the members on our private listserve, and we've been thinking about introducing the new leadership to the public here. One is Sue Woods MD MPH, a potent and...
Mind the Gap: Peer-to-peer Healthcare
Update: My notes are now online: Mind the Gap: Peer-to-peer HealthCare. The newest material is in the section entitled, "Getting Past the Early-Adopter Stage" -- roadblocks, opportunities, and beacons for change (patient leaders, clinician leaders, and technology...
Alan Greene: “Jumping out of a Plane is 47 Times Safer Than Checking into a Hospital. Unless…”
SPM co-founder and co-chair emeritus Alan Greene MD, of DrGreene.com, just posted this tasty numerical comparison. Remedy, he says? "Working together can be one of the best ways to prevent errors, which is one of the reasons I believe the Society...
