Why Not Tweet When You Are In the Hospital and Not Feeling Well?

Being isolated in a hospital room leaves you vulnerable to doctors who may be inappropriate, rude and even abusive. You might consider that having the capacity to call for help – to Tweet – is empowering. Health care #911, and very public! But…

Posted in Blogs, Communication, Empowered Patient, Future of Medicine, health care delivery, Life as a Doctor, Life as a Patient, Media, Privacy, Social MediaTagged , , , , , , 4 Comments on Why Not Tweet When You Are In the Hospital and Not Feeling Well?

“The Dallas Buyers Club” Takes on AIDS, Peer Patients, and Not Taking “No” for An Answer

Published trials can be flawed. Even if they’re well-analyzed, the findings can be hard to interpret when it comes to a single patient’s course and well-being. What’s a dying man to do?

Posted in Empowered Patient, Essential Lessons, Infectious Disease, Life, Movies, Patient Autonomy, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , 2 Comments on “The Dallas Buyers Club” Takes on AIDS, Peer Patients, and Not Taking “No” for An Answer

Why I Like the (Absurd) Dancing in the OR Video

What Deb did, and I thank her for this, is offer an extreme example of patient-centered care. Among other things, she did everything possible to assure that the people caring for her perceive her as a human being who loves dancing.

Posted in Breast Cancer, Empowered Patient, Life as a Patient, Medical News, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Video, Women's HealthTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Why I Like the (Absurd) Dancing in the OR Video

Image Share Project (Finally) Enables People to Share and Access Radiology Results

Hard to fathom that in 2013 we’re exploring “pilot” sites where patients can enroll in a program that allows them to transmit their electronic health images to doctors in other cities.

Posted in Communication, Empowered Patient, health care delivery, Health ITTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Image Share Project (Finally) Enables People to Share and Access Radiology Results

Can Anyone Be a Patient Advocate?

Can a good doctor, or a nurse, or a physical therapist, or any other person employed by the health care system, serve as a patient advocate?

Posted in Empowered Patient, Essential Lessons, Ideas, language, Patient-Doctor RelationshipTagged , , , , , , , , 23 Comments on Can Anyone Be a Patient Advocate?

Reading Between the Lines, and Learning from an Epidemiologist

She writes: “I believe that every edu­cated person must at the very least under­stand how these inter­preters of medical knowledge examine, or should examine, it to arrive at the conclusions.”

Posted in Books, Communication, Empowered Patient, Medical Education, StatisticsTagged , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Reading Between the Lines, and Learning from an Epidemiologist

How Much Do You Want Your Doctors To Say About Risks of Treatment?

This kind of paternalism, when a doctor assesses the risks and benefits, and spares the patient’s “knowing” seems anachronistic. But it may, still, be what many people are looking for when and if they get a serious illness. Not everyone wants a “tell me everything” kind of physician.

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer treatment, Empowered Patient, Informed Consent, Life as a Patient, Oncology (cancer), Patient Autonomy, Patient-Doctor RelationshipTagged , , , , , , , , , 19 Comments on How Much Do You Want Your Doctors To Say About Risks of Treatment?

The NBCC Holds Annual Summit and Pushes for Deadline 2020

Last week the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) held its annual summit. The meeting drew over 600 women to its opening rally in a Crystal City ballroom on Saturday, along with students who participated in sessions for Emerging Leaders, and a few men who joined in lectures and panels, and lobbied on Tuesday on Capitol […]

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer awareness, Empowered PatientTagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment on The NBCC Holds Annual Summit and Pushes for Deadline 2020

73 Cents: A Film on Regina Holliday’s Work, and Patient Advocacy Through Art

The unreasonable price of the medical records, combined with the delay in receiving them, exemplifies unnecessary harms patients encounter in an outdated, disjointed health care system.

Posted in Communication, Empowered Patient, Exhibits, health care costsTagged , , , , , , Leave a Comment on 73 Cents: A Film on Regina Holliday’s Work, and Patient Advocacy Through Art

A Good Personal Health Record is Hard to Find

Over the weekend I developed another bout of diverticulitis. Did the usual: fluids, antibiotics, rest, avoided going to the ER, cancelled travel plans. One of my doctors asked a very simple question: is this happening more frequently? The answer, we both knew, was yes. But I don’t have a Personal Health Record (PHR) that in […]

Posted in Empowered Patient, Essential Lessons, health care delivery, Health IT, Life as a PatientTagged , , , , , , 6 Comments on A Good Personal Health Record is Hard to Find
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