Often when I speak, there’s discussion. Sometimes it’s about nutrition. Reading the Boston Globe today, I spotted “F Minus” comic, with a new approach.:)
(If you can’t see the graphic, click to come view it on the site.)
Power to the Patient!
By e-Patient Dave Leave a Comment
Often when I speak, there’s discussion. Sometimes it’s about nutrition. Reading the Boston Globe today, I spotted “F Minus” comic, with a new approach.:)
(If you can’t see the graphic, click to come view it on the site.)
By e-Patient Dave Leave a Comment
Here’s information for the talk I just gave to the good folks at AUCH, the Association of Utah Community Health.
At the live event Friday, we had technical glitches that prevented the planned Q&A, so I’ll invite those questions in comments here, where others can share them!
One aspect of Obamacare is that the public’s ratings of healthcare providers will be published. A lot of providers are nervous about this, just as anyone is nervous about dumb things being said about them online.
But as I’ve often said in speeches, one thing healthcare lacks is the usual incentives we see in other industries: rewards when a job’s well done, consequences for when it’s not. And I sometimes tell providers, fear not: the public knows there are idiots online as well as good info; ultimately the truth will out. And yes, it’ll be messy along the way.
So I figure it’s time to practice what I preach. On my Testimonials page I’ve often published the evaluations I get from my speeches. But I’ve decided to start publishing all speech feedback, good bad and ugly.
I won’t blog them all (they’ll just go on that page), but to introduce it here’s the first one, posted with permission. (See discussion below.) [Read more…]
Twitter friend Alicia Aebersold, at George Washington University, just reminded me of this quick video interview recorded last year. I’d forgotten! But I love what it says.
This spring I did a whole speech on the same topic, 35 minutes with slides. That video’s here.
Folks, do you (yes you, the person in your underpants) know what’s in your medical record? Your kids’? Your folks’? Now’s the time to ask – before those records become important in a crisis.
In my speeches I say “Let Patients Help.” Now it’s your turn: do the helping – help your healthcare providers. Make sure the info at their fingertips is correct. How else can they perform to the top of their training?
One of the great things about Twitter is that although you can’t possibly keep an eye on everything, every now and then something flies past that you never would have seen otherwise.
This weekend this extraordinary post caught my eye: How I lost my fear of Universal Health Care. Please read this earnest young mom’s experience. It starts:
When I moved to Canada in 2008, I was a die-hard conservative Republican. So when I found out that we were going to be covered by Canada’s Universal Health Care, I was somewhat disgusted. This meant we couldn’t choose our own health coverage, or even opt out if we wanted to.
I’ve always preferred to stay out of political spitting contests (to put it mildly), because I can’t function when wild accusations fly around. Heck, everything I’ve seen says most people don’t actually know what’s in the health reform law. And besides, what I’m about is patient engagement, not politics. I believe people should be actively engaged and responsible in health and care, and that society should enable that, not block it.
So what I need is real-world examples of how things work out when people try to get care and try to be responsible for their families’ health.
And this young mother relates what she found when she moved to the land of universal care. Partway through the post, she writes – [Read more…]
By e-Patient Dave Leave a Comment
The plan
Starting a business is hard. Advancing a movement is hard. It’s been tiring. So last month, when I announced my first vacation in seven years I said:
For me “time off” means freedom from agenda. Don’t tell me to stay offline; that would be an agenda … I’ll read, I’ll sit on a beach (under an umbrella, for cancer prevention), we’ll tour the area …. Most of all, we’ll do whatever we feel like.
I said
We’re going to stay with friends, so it’s not like we’re splurging on a resort, or even a paid campground. On the other hand, the friends are overseas, which is sweet. :-)
I said
My assistant Linda will be monitoring my emails and will be able to reach me.
The outcome:
It worked.
I haven’t worn socks since June 22. Most days I wore sandals.
I haven’t worn long pants since June 20. Most days I wore swim trunks.