From pre-screening potential doctors to keeping tabs on their exercise regimes – today’s patient is online and engaged.
Learn more about today’s always-on, always-connected ePatient in this infographic.
Category: E-Patient
ePatients: The “e” is for engagement
Hangout With Doctors 2.0
I had the pleasure this week of moderating a discussion on e-patient and physician relations for a Doctors 2.0 & You Google hangout.
The panel which included Denise Silber (founder of Doctors 2.0), Jamie Tripp Utitus (MS survivor and health blogger) and Renza Sciblia (diabetes consumer and health blogger) discussed the ways in which new technologies are contributing to the patient/physician relationship.
Relationships in medicine are as important now as they were in the past. The difference is that today’s technology allows physicians and patients to communicate on a different level. The panel listed some of the new technologies that are changing the dynamic between the patient and the physician, and how the balance of power has shifted. This led to a discussion on how some doctors view the empowered, digitally savvy patient as a challenge to their authority and expertise. Jamie suggests leading physicians gently towards a discussion on health technology, while Renza sees this as an opportunity to broaden the relationship between doctor and patient, fostering more openness and honesty in the relationship. She suggests that patients interview their doctors in advance to find the level of collaboration they are happy with.
Speaking to the numbers of doctors who embrace new technologies, Denise suggests that this is a multi-factorial problem, encompassing people skills and financial remuneration. Michael Weiss, listening online to the discussion, asked the panel for their thoughts on the future of medicine being the convergence of ehealth, mobile health and social media. The panel were all in agreement that this is the future of medicine, and spent some time on the important role that social media has to play in supporting and educating patients. Blogs and Twitter chats are great vehicles for healthcare professionals to learn about the lived experience of a condition.
The discussion ended with each panelist offering one piece of advice to physicians to help them prepare for a future where patients are empowered by new technologies. Renza’s advice is to just step in there and offers the reassurance that the majority of patient sites online are very well moderated and provide accurate information. This is not about replacing the doctor/patient relationship, but augmenting it. Jamie refers to Dr. Charles Safran’s quote that patients are the most underutilized resource in healthcare, followed by Denise quoting that the patient is the first member of the medical team. The discussion ends with Jamie’s call to patients to join the healthcare conversations online – to find answers and support and Renza emphasizing the peer-to-peer support and power of community that can be accessed online.
The digital revolution and the era of the e-patient
I was delighted to have the opportunity to share the stage with Dr Kendall Ho, a practicing emergency medicine specialist and founding director of the eHealth Strategy Office of the University of British Columbia, at the Universitas 21 Health Sciences Group annual meeting held recently at University College Dublin. In a lively and engaging presentation Dr Ho spoke to delegates about how medical educators can embrace social media.
Also presenting was consultant rheumatologist, Dr Ronan Kavanagh, speaking on how doctors can use the tools of social media in their practice.
And my own presentation on the digital revolution and the era of the e-patient.
Get engaged: How to be a more powerful patient
Patient engagement has been called “the blockbuster drug of the century.” Being engaged means being an active participant in your health care and health decisions. Often the results are better medical care with fewer hassles. This video with Eve Harris, Healthcare Writer and Patient Advocate covers tips for improving your experiences with the healthcare system and becoming more actively engaged in your own well-being.
E-patients and their hunt for health information
Some interesting data in the following presentation by Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet Project, on how patients and their caregivers seek health information in the digital age and crucially how that information informs their healthcare decisions.
Patients’ Internet use a predictor for participation in their own care
Is there a significant relationship between Internet use frequency and the overall preferences for obtaining health information and decision-making autonomy?
Patients who use the Internet more frequently are more likely to embrace patient-centered healthcare efforts and participate in their own care, according to a study published this week in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
For the study, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Florida and the University of Maryland examined Internet use patterns of 438 people. They asked the group two questions:
Is there a significant relationship between Internet use frequency and the overall preferences for obtaining health information and decision-making autonomy?
Does the relationship between Internet use frequency and information and decision-making preferences differ with respect to seven different aspects of health conditions–diagnosis, treatment, laboratory testing, self-care, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), psychosocial aspect and healthcare providers?
According to the researchers, the findings will be important for care efforts moving forward. “When medical professionals attempt to gauge how much information to provide patients or try to decide how much they should involve patients in medical decision-making, they may be better off if they base their decisions on patients’ Internet use frequency rather than age, per se,” they said.
See on www.fiercehealthit.com
Internet Use Frequency and Patient-Centered Care: Measuring Patient Preferences for Participation
The Internet is bringing fundamental changes to medical practice through improved access to health information and participation in decision making. However, patient preferences for participation in health care vary greatly. Promoting patient-centered health care requires an understanding of the relationship between Internet use and a broader range of preferences for participation than previously measured.
The Health Information Wants Questionnaire (HIWQ) was administered to gather data about patients’ preferences for the (1) amount of information desired about different aspects of a health condition, and (2) level of decision-making autonomy desired across those same aspects. The study concluded that Internet use frequency has a positive relationship with the overall preferences for obtaining health information and decision-making autonomy, but its relationship with different types of preferences varies. These findings have important implications for medical practice.
See on www.jmir.org
Doctors 2.0 & You – More Than A Conference
The sun shone brightly in Paris last week as attendees flocked to the stunning location of the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris for the Doctors 2.0 & You conference.
Now in its third year, this unique event, brilliantly orchestrated by the indefatigable Denise Silber of Basil Strategies, brings together doctors, patients, healthcare innovators, industry and payers in a truly participatory event to share and learn from each other.
The Doctors 2.0 agenda addresses the role of new technology in healthcare from healthcare social media best practice to innovative web 2.0 tools and mobile apps – crucially from both the doctor and patient perspective.
I was honored to be invited to speak on both days of the conference on the proof of healthcare social media (in the form of patient blogs and tweet chats) from the patient perspective.
This was my first Doctors 2.0 & You experience and it truly surpassed all my expectations. It is so more than a conference – it is about the exchange of stimulating ideas, the spark of creativity and the illumination of inspiration, and above all the delightful coming together of old friends and the exciting creation of new partnerships. It is Doctors 2.o & You – the must-attend event of the year and an event you really shouldn’t miss.
Learn more at http://www.doctors20.com
How the e-patient community helped save my life
This is not anti-doctor I was saved by brilliant science and top notch clinicians.
See on www.bmj.com
Health Care Social Media 