What’s an E-Patient – Ask Dave And Find Out

So what about Dave? Well I have written about e-Patients before and here’s some links to catch you up. Dave made the news when he was the first patient to work with Google Health, the free PHR to get on top and get a hold of all his available medical records, he wanted them, so he could participate in his own healthcare. This is what everyone should be doing today, it’s all over the news and this blog for that matter.

E-Patient Dave evaluates Google Health – A comprehensive look with pros and cons

Being an e-Patient helps stamp out “Magpie Healthcare” too, with a real voice and not just folks repeating what they hear from others, this is what we want to hear about today, real people with their real experiences.

E-Patient Connections 2009 – Become The Connected and Informed Patient Help Stamp out “Magpie Healthcare”

Through his efforts with getting a hold of his records, even Microsoft got involved and took a second look at what HealthVault was doing too.

The Family Health Guy – Microsoft Health Vault Talks about Data relative to e-Patient Dave and his experience this week with Personal Health Records

Dave was also fortunate enough to work with a hospital that had the processes in place, so what we were able to see was a “real” experience here and sure there were some issues but if you don’t try and continue to maintain “Magpie” credibility, nobody ever really knows the full story.

Just for the record here, Dave is not a Magpie and is far from it by all means. We have enough of those sitting in Congress today though as evidenced by their own videos and publications issued. So if you want to learn about how real life experiences help you learn and manage your own healthcare, “Ask Dave” and get to the bottom line of what this is all about so we can help stamp out “Magpie Healthcare” once and for all. BD

Readers -- please meet my friend and colleague E-Patient Dave deBronkart.

The "E" in Dave's name stands for empowered and engaged (OK - electronic, too - but that's only a corner of his Es!). I want you to meet him because he is an Excellent Example (two more Es) of what can be accomplished when you take empowerment seriously.

Dave was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2007. His cancer was so advanced that he knew it was terminal - months at most. While he had always been a pro-active patient, his diagnosis indicated that pro-active wouldn't be enough. That began Dave's major push to get the treatment he needed and deserved. And he must have done it right -- because 2 years later Dave is still with us, and cancer-free.

Today Dave writes and speaks, often in partnership with the doctor who worked with him, Dr. Danny Sands from Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. They work together to guide professionals -- providers and industry professionals -- to improve the experience for patients who do want to be engaged with their care decisions. It's important -- VERY important work.

Read about Dave (and Danny, too) in this article from Health Leaders Media. You can read some of Dave's work at his blog, or at e-patients.net, too.