For decades thought leaders like Dr. Warner Slack have said patients are the most under-used resource in healthcare. He was talking about health IT, but now the new role of the patient is mainstream.
In 2012 the Institute of Medicine published a major report, 382 pages long, called Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America, which said, right up front (Table S-2 in the Executive Summary): of the four pillars of the future of medicine, #2 is …
Patient-Clinician Partnerships
Engaged, empowered patients— A learning health care system is anchored on patient needs and perspectives and promotes the inclusion of patients, families, and other caregivers as vital members of the continuously learning care team. [emphasis added]
Anchored on patient needs and perspectives – not as a last-minute thing; anchored there, from the start.
The problem is that culture change doesn’t spread fast (most people have never seen that statement), and it leaves us with the question: How do you do that? What do they mean by that?
As a former product manager in my pre-cancer life, I understand business perspectives, customer relevance, and good user experience. So, to supplement my speaking income I offer advisory contracts to companies and academic grantees working on all aspects of patient-centered thinking and patient-centered care. In short, I advise on “patient needs and perspectives.”
For additional background, I serve on the BMJ’s patient advisory panel, interacting with some of the world’s most activated patient voices, and have spoken with audiences at nearly four hundred conferences in fifteen countries and participated in a hundred other events. Contact me to discuss whether your project could provide mutual value in these changing times.
Advisory work – present:
- Advisory contracts: MyHealth.US
- Pro bono advisory: OpenNotes advisory board
- Disclosures / COI: See the disclosures page.
Advisory work – past:
- Advisory boards: Hello Doctor; AdhereTx (now ActualMeds); Happtique Certification Program Blue Ribbon Panel, HealthMonitor, Antidote (formerly TrialReach) (Special Advisor for Patient Perspectives),
- Grant-funded projects: Bridging the Gap care transitions study, University of Texas School of Nursing; National Integration Academy Council (steering the creation of AHRQ’s Integration Academy); DECIDE-PCI project, U of Missouri.
Working groups:
None at present.