What fun THIS was. On the spur of the moment, people backstage convinced me to insert a few seconds of The e-Patient Rap, written by health IT blogger Keith Boone (@Motorcycle_Guy on Twitter). Keith, you rock!
Two wonderful things about this:
- There were numerous patient speakers at this event. First time I’ve ever seen that! That’s why I inserted a new slide at the start of my talk: “The Year of Patients Rising”
- At the end of my talk, the audience joined in (900 people!) in chanting: “Let Patients Help! Let Patients Help!”
See also the basement interview we did later that day, with Dutch medical association magazine Medisch Contact.
This TEDx event was organized by Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre. (Nijmegen is the oldest city in the Netherlands; in that country, “UMCs” are equivalent to America’s AMCs (academic medical centers).)
dave, i just watched this and was so inspired. thanks for sharing your story.
Stage 4 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma – recent diagnosis. Six scheduled chemos, then radiation. Am trying to learn.
Virgil,
Have you found a good community of patients to exchange thoughts with?
Not yet, but am interested.
It would be useful to have a link to any patient groups that you think are helpful? e.g. ACORN? or something like that you that you had used/mentioned?
Also, I think an issue that patients should be aware of is that the Electronic Medical Records(EMR) that the US govt has committed to investing $80 billion is a waste of $$$. That $$$ would be better spent in an open source EMR written by an “Americorps of programmers” or taking $1billion of that to hire Apple/Google/Facebook quality programmers to make a user friendly EMR.
Hi Sophia – have a link where? There’s a Patient Communities page on my site’s menu bar. (We need far more communities in the world, IMO.)
Not sure why you think the ARRA / HITECH stimulus money is a waste, but are you aware that the majority of the money is not for subsidies, but for training and rollout? The #1 obstacle to adoption of medical records from the docs I’ve spoken to has simply been that they don’t WANT to use them – it’s the most backwards industry I’ve ever seen, as a whole. Many doctors prize their autonomy (to do as they please) more highly than they value having their patients’ records available where the patient needs them.
The world’s best open source EMR isn’t going to change that, so Federal policy is finally providing both a carrot ($ incentives) and a stick (penalties a few years from now for those who don’t want to get on board).
btw, are you familiar with Practice Fusion, the very easy to use cloud-bsaed EMR? It’s free, and guarantees you’ll get match the federal requirements.
The most amazing thing in all the complaints I’ve heard is that no practice is REQUIRED to participate in this. The incentives and penalties only apply to practices that do business with the government, i.e. accept Medicare and Medicaid. If I were a practice that didn’t want to use an EMR, I’d just say “Fine, you guys, so I’m quitting Medicare.” Some have done that.
I’m truly a believer in a free market – and making empowered choices within that market. Of course, a free market requires ability to vote with one’s feet. Ironically it’s most often patients – the customers – who are restricted in their choices. A good portable EMR is a big step in that direction.
At completely random entry, the lovely Lauren of Everyday to Runway has won the Coach Poppy gift bag valued at almost $500! I mean, what better way to start the week than knowing you just won some serious swag from your fabulous label, right? Lauren, I’ll be contacting you shortly to get your shipping details!