e-Patient Dave

Power to the Patient!

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Fins to the left: Parrothead advice needed!

I’m goin’ to a Jimmy Buffett show, and I need help stat!

Click image or here for an 8 minute video of live performances of “Fins” and “Son of a son of a sailor”:

Finz2Rt New Hampshire license plate
Yeah, that's a Fins license plate from my home state!

Five years ago this month, August 2008, it was a year since my final treatment. I’d beaten cancer and had spent a year wondering “What next? What will I do with my free replay in life??”

What had I always said I’d get around to, someday? In a flash it came to me: Parrothead!!

But there were obstacles. First was the cost of tickets – I was fresh from cancer and a house-sale disaster. Next was that every time I learned about a concert it was already sold out. Then were my three years of being a start-up, with no money for luxuries.

Last winter I realized I could afford it – but again, every time I found a concert it was sold out. What to do?? In early January I did what everyone modern does  – turned to social media. I asked Twitter:

Parrothead tweet [Read more…]

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Two new radio appearances!

Introducing Alicia Staley @Stales as a sometime writer here!

Dave will make two appearances on the radio today and tomorrow, with podcast recordings online afterward. Listen in as Dave talks about some important topics facing patients these days.

KJZZ: “The Show”

KJZZ is an NPR station serving the Greater Phoenix, AZ area. Airing today at 5 PM ET, listen to “The Show” with Mark Brodie and Steve Goldstein as they discuss ideas around carrying your health data.  Dave was interviewed by Nick Blumberg about carrying your health information on a USB stick.  Listen in and let us know what you think!

Patient Safety Radio: (@SpeakUpRadiOh)

Dave will be a guest on tomorrow’s Patient Safety Radio with Pat Rullo. Pat hosts the “Speak up and Stay Alive” Patient Safety Radio series.  Dave will join Pat and talk about Shared Medical Appointments.  Listen to a sneak preview of the show, or join in tomorrow to listen to the whole show.

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Speaker Academy #6: What could be said that would make any difference?

It took a month to get through the first five posts in this series, all based on the notes Randi Redmond Oster took from one thirty minute phone call. THAT’s getting value out of a conversation.

And that leads to this next point, which is short and simple. As you consider what to say to your audience, ask yourself this:

What could be said that would make any difference?

You may get frustrated by this – you may think people should think the way you do, or you may think people should want to hear what’s on your mind. You’re welcome to those feelings; heaven knows I’ve had them. But my point here is: if you want to make a difference in the world, by speaking, you better think about what could make a difference.

A lot of speeches I hear seem to have been written without wondering about that. Except for purely academic events, it’s not enough to recite facts. In academia it’s okay to say “I presented the facts – my work is done.” But if you’re advocating – if you want to change the world – that’s not enough. For instance:

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Speaker Academy #5: Knock it out of the park

Kent Bottles
Kent Bottles MD (from ConventionConnection.com)

If you’re new to this series of advice to speakers, read the initial post, and it’ll help if you follow the chain.

It’s been three weeks since this series went on hiatus. This post is the fourth to come from notes taken by Randi Redmond Oster. And this post springs from advice given to me by Kent Bottles MD, whom I mentioned yesterday on pricing. (That’s him speechifying, at right.)

In addition to counseling me about price integrity, Kent’s the one who taught me that it’s my responsibility to find out what’s on the organizer’s mind – which often involves helping with the exploration. As I said in #2, “two thirds of good speaking is good listening.”

The consultative approach

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Pricing policy

Updated Dec. 30, 2015. See the changes under the blue headings.

Prolog and principles

In 2013, in A turning point for patient voices and Prices must have integrity, I laid out my thinking: a professional price policy must make sense, and the rules must be real – fair to all clients and consistently enforced.  Re “making sense,” I’m an evangelist – an activist with a cause – so my price policy offers ways for clients to earn discounts by furthering the cause.

Update as 2016 starts: As the seventh year of this work starts, three things are newly clear, different from any past year:

  • The time has come to reach out to the public, including community health workers.
  • Nursing is turning out to be a great role in healthcare for making patient engagement a clinical reality. Nurses spend much more time face-to-face with patients and families.
  • The time has also come to get our claws into the world of medical education curriculum, so we start growing the next generation of doctors and nurses with patient empowerment “baked in” to their thinking.

As you’ll see, those three factors are reflected below. Here is the policy, fully aligned with my values as an activist for the “Let Patients Help Heal Healthcare” social movement.

1. Full price.

Event organizers, call or write for my current speech pricing. As my testimonials page shows, I deliver.

2. Add a Promoted Public Event: 25% discount (new for 2016)

It’s time to start engaging the public (ordinary citizens) in patient engagement – teaching people the rationale for (and the how-to’s of) being engaged, activated partners in their health and their care.  So, if I’m doing a speech for you, I’ll do a second speech open to the public (and tuned to them), if you will handle the logistics and get it promoted in the local media … and I’ll knock 25% off the price of your speech. (Note: a particularly great target for these events is community health workers.)

Yes, I’ll do two speeches for less than the price of one. In essence I’m buying your help in spreading the word to the general public.
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Prices must have integrity

Yesterday in A turning point for patient voices I said that the market for patient voices is maturing, leading to a need for two new initiatives:

I said today I’d present the pricing policy, but first I need to establish a foundation:

Prices must have integrity

I’m no student of formal pricing theory, but I do know this: Some list prices are real, and some are cheesy – fake prices that nobody actually pays:

  • Some list prices are inflated so the real price can be advertised as “40% off!!”
  • Some list prices are a starting point for negotiation (e.g. car sales)
  • etc.

Why do some marketers play these games? Because consumers tend to like thinking they got a discount. That’s fine with me, but it’s not my approach. I prefer to deliver value and charge accordingly. Prices must have integrity, and discounts must be based on rules that you actually enforce.

Why it matters

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