Dave deBronkart – inspiring speaker on change and adversity

Standing ovation TED & keynotes

Dave deBronkart is an inspiring international speaker on healthcare and health IT. His standing ovation TED Talk has led to hundreds of conference keynotes and corporate events, earning top ratings by understanding each audience to deliver the host’s unique messaging objective. More⇒

Advocating for FHIR: the future of health IT

The HL7® FHIR® standard for health data mobility has been in development for years, and is starting to make a real difference in how easily information can move. I’ve become involved as a voice for, and voice of, the patient’s role in the project. Learn why it’s important⇒

Books: Let Patients Help, Facing Death, and Birth of a Battle Cry

Vivid, clear writing from a patient who faced death, got great care, helped achieve his own survival, and has become a leading global activist for patient engagement.

More ⇒

Don't be like Elaine - get your medical records! And ask for OpenNotes.

Visit the videos page ⇒

"Cracking the Code: The Real Cost of Health Care"

Do you understand your health costs? NOLA journalists dig in hard

Jump to my page about the series

Regular readers know I’ve long been crusading for price transparency (I call it “visible prices”), so we can spend more wisely on our families’ care and so we can reward innovators who offer quality services at a better price.

That’s the norm in every other industry, but it hasn’t been in healthcare. A new series by investigative reporter Lee Zurik on New Orleans station WVUE, and another by Times-Picayune reporter Jed Lipinsky, are digging into the how and why, and crowdsourcing real-world price information. I appear in Lee’s first episode. Read on ⇒

As featured in:

Latest Schedule

Click here for full schedule

Highly rated international speaker and author “e-Patient Dave” deBronkart delivers custom keynote addresses tailored to the needs of your audience. See videos of past speeches, testimonials, and contact information.

Delivering the opening keynote at Medicine 2.0, Toronto, September 2009 — My first keynote – the opening keynote at Medicine 2.0, Toronto, September 2009 – the original “Gimme My Damn Data” speech. Photo: Gunther Eysenbach, Creative Commons BY-SA

Fall 2024

September 21-27, Atlanta: HL7 Annual Meeting, Connectathon, and Workgroup Meeting. Patient voice.
September, Boston: DCI conference on AI. Speaker.
October 7, Cambridge MA: Digital Health & AI Innovation Summit. Panelist on #PatientsUseAI.
October 15, Berlin: Frontiers Health ’24. Opening keynote: “The Dawn of Patient Autonomy.” Video on that page.
October 23-25, Barcelona: Quirónsalud International Seminar on Patient Experience. Opening keynote.
November 5, Reading UK: openEHR First International Conference. Keynote.
November 18-21, Atlanta: AI in Medical Education Conference hosted by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation: Invitation Only. Participant.
December 6, Newton MA: 16th Annual Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center Kidney Cancer Symposium. Survivor / participant.
December 17, virtual: Quirónsalud (Catalonia health system) – reprise my October keynote
December 19: THCB Gang Podcast on Patients Using AI, live with Matthew Holt, Gilles Frydman, Hugo Campos

Past events

Earlier events, 2008-2015, are on the past events archive page.

Past Events – 2016

January 8, The White House: Dialogue on Men’s Health. Panel.
January 13-15, Palo Alto: diaTribe Foundation. Executive Innovation Lab on Diabetes and Obesity. Participant.
February 16, New Jersey (via Web): The College of New Jersey, New Media and Health Communication Course. Guest lecturer.
February 17, Raleigh: ProPatient content production.
February 25-27: Private retreat.
March 1-2, Alberta: Alberta Health Services, HPSP 2016 Healthcare Providers Conference. Keynote.
March 5, Trento, Italy: IBA Proteus User Meeting. Keynote.
March 8, London: The BMJ Awards judging. Cancer Care Team of the Year category.
March 14, San Antonio: 2016 Parenteral Drug Association Annual Meeting. Keynote.
March 15, Austin: Dell’s Healthcare Think Tank. Panel.
March 24: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Lecture.
March 29, Cambridge, MA: New England HIMSS regional meeting. Speaker. Open to the public; discount or free to SPM members.
April 1-2, DC: FHIR Code-a-thon. Part of 2016 Health Data Palooza.
April 4-7, London: Private event.
April 13, Ontario: eHealth Centre of Excellence, Partnerships in eHealth. Keynote.
May 1, Cambridge: MIT Hacking Medicine 2016. Judge
May 3, Boston: NEHI One Health Care Summit. Featured speakers Eric Dishman and Susannah Fox. Attendee.
May 8-10, D.C.: Health Datapalooza. Attendee.
May 11, Sacramento: Indian Health Services California Providers’ Best Practices & GPRA Measures Continuing Medical Education. Keynote.
May 12, Newport Beach, CA: Compassionate Care Coalition of California 8th Annual Conference & Summit. “Ignite, Inspire, Innovate. Taking Palliative Care to the Next Level.” Keynote.
May 18-19, SanDiego: Private event.
May 19-21, Grantsville, MD: Cinderblocks3. The Partnership with Patient Continues. Speaker.
May 21, Webcast, live from Cinderblocks (above): IKF, Switzerland. Lecture and e-patient interviews.
June 2, Vic, Spain: 3rd University of Vic Health Meeting. Speaker.
June 3-5, Brussels: European Cancer Patient Coalition. Speaker.
June 10, VT: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Communications & Marketing Team Retreat.Speaker.
June 11-14, New Orleans: American Diabetes Association 76th Scientific Sessions. Consultant to diaTribe.
June 14, Shanghai, via video: Private event. Speaker.
June 22, Boston: Harvard Medical School: Rogue Therapeutics. Closing Keynote.
June 26-29, Geneva Switzerland: Nursing Informatics 2016 Congress. Opening keynote – open to the public!
- June 27: Health Information Technologies for Geriatrics: The Big Picture.Panelist.
June 28, Europe: Private event. Keynote.
July 14-15, D.C.: Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation Steering Committee. Advisory.
July 26, Southeast: Private event. Keynote.
August 8, Concord, NH: Foundation for Healthy Communities. Keynote speaker.
August 14, San Diego: AADE16 Pre-Diabetes Day (American Association of Diabetes Educators annual meeting)
- Brief statement at end of Donna Ryan’s keynote
- Panelist presenting on e-patient communities, 9:15
August 17-19, Orlando: IEEE EBMC ’16. The Quantified Self: Visions for the next decade of persistent physiological monitoring.
- 8/18, 1:30 pm: panel presentation: “I Barely Survived Cancer and Nobody Knows Why”
- 8/19, 8 am: session on e-health papers – co-chair
August 25, Boothbay Harbor, ME: Boothbay Region Health Center. Speaking, participating
September 3, Switzerland: Hirslanden National Academy, private event. Speaker.
September 13, Columbus OH: Aultman Hospital. Independent Hospital Network Board Retreat. Speaker.
September 20, Bretton Woods, NH: New Hampshire Hospital Association. Speaker.
September 20, 8:30 pm ET: guest on the weekly #HCLDR (Health Care Leaders) Twitter chat!
September 21, Boston: HealthXL Global Gathering: Behavior Change, Chronic Disease Management, Patient Engagement. Speaker.
September 25-28, Santa Clara: Health 2.0 10th Annual Conference. Participant in patient awards.
September 29, virtual speech, Spain. Participant.
September 30, Newton, MA: 9th Annual Kidney Cancer Symposium. Participant.
October 18-19, San Diego: MedCity News. Engage, Innovation in Patient Engagement. Keynote.
November 2, Denver: Colorado Hospital Association. Keynote speaker.
November 15, Chicago: Private event. Keynote.
November 17-18, Amersfoort, NL: Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre. 50th Conference of the Dutch Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology. Speaker.
November 23, via webcast: University of Southern California. Lecture.
November 23-27: Thanksgiving holiday.
November 28-29, Chicago: Insight Night at RSNA. Speaker.
December 1: Private advisory meeting.
December 6-7, Washington D.C.: National Integration Academy Council (NIAC) meeting (project of AHRQ). Participant.
December 6, Washington D.C.: Leapfrog Group Annual Meeting. Speaker.
December 12, Washington D.C.: RTI PCOR advisory meeting. Participant.

Past events – 2017

- January 6, Las Vegas: Digital Health Summit at CES: “Confronting the Sleep Epidemic Head-on.” Speaker and panelist.
- January 9, webcast: Rotman School of Management. Lecture.
- January 27, Orlando: Society for Simulation in Healthcare – “Patients: The Heart of Simulation” Research Summit. Opening keynote.
- January 28, Dallas: Commission for Case Manager Certification New World Symposium. Final day’s keynote.
- January 31, NH: Dartmouth Giesel School of Medicine. Guest lecture.
- February 19-22, Orlando: HIMSS 2017
  - Monday 2/20 1:00pm: Dell Meetup at the Tweetup, Healthcare Consumerism. Participant.
  - Monday 2/20 4:00pm: Connected Health forum in the Philips Booth. Speaker.
  - Interoperability Showcase. Participant.

February 21: Private event.
February 24-26: Private retreat.
March 2: Private event.
March 16, northeast: Private dinner salon on AI/VR in health.
March 24, Boston: Northeastern University, Relay for Life. Opening Speaker.
April 3-4, Boston: Aligning Incentives for Sharing Clinical Trial Data New England Journal of Medicine event. On-site participant.
April 6, Tewksbury MA: American Society for Quality, Merrimack Valley. Dinner speaker.
April 13-14, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Lecture and judge.
April 25, Madrid: Private event. Speaker.
April 26, London: BMJ Patient Engagement Workshop. Participant.
April 28, Midwest: Private event. Keynote.
May 10, Webinar: Commission for Case Manager Certification. Speaker.
May 18, Webcast, live from Cinderblocks: IKF, Switzerland. Lecture and e-patient interviews.
May 22, Dubai: Cerner Middle East Collaboration Forum. Keynote.
May 24, Northeast: Private event. Keynote.
May 29, Scandinavia: Private event. Speaker.
May 30, Boston: Chardan digital health drinks night series. Guest speaker.
June 5, Boston: NE Healthcare Executive Network, Technology and Real-Time Data: Advancing Patient Care. Attending.
July 7, 11:00am EDT: #PhilipsChat Tweetchat – Future Health Index case study with Cleveland Clinic on care improvement through EMRs. Guest.
July 24-25, Washington: National Academy of Medicine Long-term Survivorship Care after Cancer Treatment workshop. Speaker.
July 26, TweetChat 1:00 – 1:30 EDT: #WTFix presented by HealthSparq. Host.
September 7-8, Boston: DPharm: Disruptive Innovations to Advance Clinical Trials. Attending.
September 12, Detroit: Private event. Keynote.
September 15, Chicago: Medical College of Wisconsin, The 38th Forum for Behavioral Science in Family Medicine. Speaker.
September 19, New Orleans: MatrixCare User Conference. Keynote.
October 1-2, Santa Clara, CA.: Health 2.0. Panelist.
October 3, Crystal City, VA.: PCCDS Annual Conference. Moderator.
October 4-5, Washington: Starfield III: Meaningful Measures for Primary Care. Participant.
October 9-12, Australia:
- October 9, Sydney: PHS User Conference. Keynote.
- October 10, Sydney: Public breakfast meeting, 7 – 9 a.m. Register and join us!
- October 11, Bella Vista: Private event. Internal corporate meeting.
- October 12, Brisbane: HISA Health Data Analytics conference. Keynote.
October 16, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Digital Health Day. Keynote.
October 25, Boston: Society for Participatory Medicine Conference. Participant.
October 26-November 3, New Zealand:
- HINZ conference. Keynote.
- Revera i3. Visiting Fellow on Patient Engagement.
November 4-12: Vacation!
November 17-18, Scandinavia: Private event. Keynote.
December 5, Arlington, VA: Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health, Annual Conference. Participant.
December 7, Arlington, VA: The Leapfrog Group’s National Health Care Ratings Summit. Panel.
December 8, Seattle: Virginia Mason Medical Center, Hospital Medical Staff Committee Annual Meeting and Grand Rounds. Lecture.
December 12-13, Phoenix: Mayo Clinic Social Media Network annual conference. Platinum Fellow, participant, moderator.
December 14, D.C.: National Integration Academy Council (NIAC) meeting (project of AHRQ). Participant.
December 15, D.C.: National Academy of Medicine, Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience. Speaker, participant.

Past events – 2018

January 21, Orlando: Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, Annual Conference. Keynote with Dr. Danny Sands.
March 5-9, Las Vegas: Philips Fireside Chat.
- HIMSS 18, Interoperability Showcase. Participant.
March 14, MA: Case Management Society of New England. Keynote.
March 20, NYC: Private event. Speaker.
March 27, New England: MIT club alumni night. Speaker.
April 19-21, New Orleans: American College of Physicians Internal Medicine. Keynote with Dr. Danny Sands.
April 26-27, CT: Connecticut Advance Practice Registered Nurse Society 2018 conference. Keynote.
May 1, NH: University of New Hampshire Nursing. Lecture.
May 7, Boston: NE Healthcare Executive Network, Transforming the Culture of Care SPM. Participant.
May 16, Austin: Dell Medical School & Healthsparq. What’s the fix workshop. Speaker with Dr. Danny Sands.
May 17-20, MD: Regina Holliday’s “Cinderblocks” event.
May 23, Webcast: IKF Switzerland, CAS eHealth. Lecture.
May 31, DC: Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) Annual Meeting. Keynote.
June 7, Hartford: CT Partners for Health, Better Health Conference. Keynote with Dr. Danny Sands.
June 19-21, Boston: HL7 FHIR Dev Days. Participant.
August 1, Chicago: 2018 Leavitt Partners Annual Strategy Conference. Panelist.
August 27, Webcast: Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). Speaker.
September 12, New York: “All About Data” – University Medical Center Gröningen learning tour. Plenary / workshop.
September 18, NH: Catholic Medical Center Patient Experience Summit 2018. Keynote.
September 20, Cambridge, MA: Open Notes Advisory Board Meeting. Participant.
October 2, Webinar: SolutionReach: Top 3 Patient Advocates Provide Insight on What Patients Want. Speaker.
October 10, Boston: The Planetree International Conference on Person-Centered Care. Speaker.
October 16, Boston: Society for Participatory Medicine Conference. Participant.
October 22, Grand Forks: Altru Health System’s 19th Annual Healthcare Horizons. Keynote with Dr. Danny Sands.
November 4, San Diego: Exponential Medicine. Plenary speaker.
November 7, Chicago: Private event. Speaker.
November 13-16, Amsterdam: HL7 FHIR Dev days. Keynote Speaker.
November 20, Boston: Private event. Speaker.
November 29, WebEx: QI Connect – Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Speaker.
December 11, San Diego: 9th Annual RISE Star Rating Master Class. Keynote Speaker.

Past events – 2019

January 24, York, PA: WPN LIFT Collaborative Meeting. Keynote.
January 31, UMC Gröningen, Netherlands: All About Data. Closing keynote.
February 1-2, Switzerland: Private meetings
February 5, Vienna: DIA Europe 2019. Opening Keynote.
February 7, Budapest: Consulting and social media work day with Medical Futurist Dr Bertalan Mesko.
February 10, Ft. Lauderdale: Pri-Med Annual Conference South. Keynote with Dr. Danny Sands.
February 11-14, Orlando: HIMSS Interoperability Showcase.
- Feb. 13, 9:45am – 10:15am HL7 booth 4849. Speaker.
- Feb. 14, 11:10am HL7 booth 4849. Speaker.
February 21, Webinar: National Network of Libraries of Medicine. CE Lecture.
March 27 & 28, D.C.: Health Datapalooza. Participant.
April 2, Berlin: Private event. Keynote.
April 13, Hyannis: Competing with my chorus in the Northeast District barbershop harmony society competition
April 18, Boston: Tufts Medical Center Speaking Series. Keynote.
May 1, Boston: Patient Experience Symposium – co-leading SPM pre-conference workshop on participatory medicine
May 3, Houston: Pri-Med Annual Conference Southwest. (continuing education for primary care) Keynote (and song!) with Dr. Danny Sands.
May 7, Scottsdale, AZ: NCPDP (National Council for Prescription Drug Programs) Annual Technology & Business Conference. Keynote.
May 9, Boston: Private corporate event. Keynote.
May 10, Boston: Our Bodies Ourselves, 50th anniversary event. Participant.
May 16, Foxborough, MA: New England HIMSS Annual Meeting. Keynote (and song) with Dr. Danny Sands
May 22, Boston: 2019 Azara User Conference. Keynote.
June 10-12, Redmond WA: FHIR Developer Days. Live blogging on the status of FHIR-based health data spigots
June 25, Rome: Private corporate event. Keynote.
July 7-11, DC: (not attending, but worth noting:) Alternatives 2019
July 18-20, Grantsville MD: #Cinderblocks6 – Regina Holliday’s annual gathering of the Walking Gallery of Healthcare
July 25, Pennsylvania: Lehigh Valley Health Network. Keynote with Dr. Danny Sands.
July 31: D.C.: CMS Summit. Speaker.
August 1-2, Chicago: Leavitt Partners Annual Strategy Conference. Speaker.
September 12, Chicago: CARIN Alliance quarterly meeting. Patient Speaker.
September 14-20, Atlanta: HL7 33rd Annual Plenary & Working Group Meeting. Participant.
September 25, Europe: Private event. Keynote.
September 30, Webinar: The College of New Jersey. Lecture.
October 7-8, Brussels: AbbVie – Healthcare Heroes, UCL & KUL Universities. Keynote.
October 22, Rochester, MN: Mayo Clinic Social Media Network Annual Conference. Participant.
October 23, Austin: athenahealth Marketplace Conference. Keynote.
November 5, Boston: FHIR Meetup. Speaker.
November 14, Grand Rapids: Great Lakes Health Connect 2019 Summit Series. Keynote.
November 19, London: BMJ Patient Advisory Panel. Virtual meeting.
November 20-22, Amsterdam: FHIR DevDays Patient Track. Jury participant.

Past events – 2020

January 23, Cleveland: The IHE North American Connectathon. Two panels.
February 10-11, DC: Health Datapalooza. Patient participant.
February 21, New York: Video interview (private production)
March 6, Boston: 12^th Annual Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center Kidney Cancer Symposium. Participant.

— And then … lockdown —

June, Lucerne, Switzerland: Ten year alumni evening for IKF – guest lecture Superpatients: Patients who extend science when medicine’s out of answers
June 15-18, Cleveland (virtual): FHIR DevDays US. Moderator, Patient Innovator Track.
August 6, virtual: Corporate consultant web conference. Keynote.
August 7, virtual: Health Rosetta. Plenary speaker.

Past events – 2021

February 2: FHIR patient engagement lecture for Veterans’ Administration health IT
April 1: HL7 Brazil – course lecture.
April 13: Global Heart Hub Advocacy workshop. Lecture and discussion with advocates from around the world. Video here.
May 11, Luzern: IKF, eHealth course. Lecture.
May 21: Hacking Healthcare – Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine student hackathon. Mentor/judge.
June 7-10: FHIR DevDays. Moderator, Patient Track.
June 8: Mayo / Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development social media & digital marketing. Keynote.
December 16: Corporate event – internal

Past events – 2022

January 18-21, virtual: HL7 FHIR Work Group Meeting. Patient Empowerment co-chair.
February 2: “Digital Health erfolgreich umsetzen” (Implementing digital health successfully) for IKF. Lecture.
March 7: Digital health podcast recording. Buoy Health.
March 9: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology – digital health web interview recording.
March 29, virtual: National Network of Libraries of Medicine conference “Advancing Engagement through Research: New Trends and Opportunities.” Keynote.
April 19: “Promoting Patient Engagement through Clinical Trials.” Virginia Commonwealth University Health Sciences Library. Free, open to public.
April 26, virtual: “We Perform Better When We’re Informed Better: Partnering with Informed Patients.” Pediatric Grand Rounds on participatory medicine. (Client is confidential.)
May 6, Switzerland (virtual): e-Patients, Patient Engagement & Participatory Medicine, Personal Health Data Rights. IKF e-health course.
May 10-11, Grantsville, Maryland: Cinderblocks, Regina Holliday’s annual grass roots patient gathering. Workshop leader.
May 19, Berlin: Opening keynote – BMC (German Managed Care Association).
June 6, Cleveland: FHIR DevDays. Patient Track lead.
June 16, virtual: Dysautonomia International Tenth Annual Conference. Keynote (see blog post with video).
August 20-22, Seattle: NRC Health Symposium. Keynote.
August 25, mid-Atlantic: Private corporate event. Opening keynote.
September 17-23, Baltimore: HL7 FHIR Work Group Meeting. Participant
October 11, DC: CARIN Alliance.
October 18, Philadelphia: Redox Customer Connect. Opening keynote.
October 26, virtual: FHIR Canada. Opening keynote.
Tuesday, Dec. 6, Washington DC: Leapfrog Group Annual Meeting. Participant.
Monday, Dec. 12, New York City: Innovation meetup. (Lower Manhattan)
Tuesday, Dec. 13, New York City: Disruptive Innovators CIO Forum. Panel moderator: “Optimizing the patient & clinician experience lifecycle.”

Past events – 2023

January 16-20, Henderson NV: HL7 FHIR Work Group Meeting. Participant for Patient Empowerment WG
February 4, New York City: Teal Dragon conference. Keynote speaker.
May 8-12, New Orleans: HL7 FHIR Work Group Meeting. Participant for Patient Empowerment WG
June 2, Lucerne (virtual): e-Patients, Patient Engagement & Participatory Medicine, Personal Health Data Rights. IKF e-health course.
June 6-9, Amsterdam: FHIR DevDays International.
August 9-11, Boston: NRC Health 29th annual conference – “HUB”: Human Understanding Beyond. Multiple sessions.
August 30, webinar: Patient Perspectives on AI in Healthcare with Amy Price, PhD. Hosted by AMIA and the Division of Clinical Informatics at Beth Israel Deaconess. Free to the public.
September 9-15, Phoenix: HL7 Annual Meeting, FHIR Work Group Meeting and Connectathon. Participant for Patient Empowerment WG
September 14, virtual: NurseHack4Health participant kickoff talk
September 18, Boston/Waltham: AI in Participatory Medicine. Panel led by Liz Boehm for Society for Participatory Medicine.

Fall 2023

September 21-22, Harvard: AI in Healthcare – two day event. 9/21 is all-day web conference; 9/22 is live on-site follow-up workshop. Steering Committee and participant.
October 6, Washington: Digital Service at CMS. Brown bag lunch speech and discussion.
October 18, Switzerland (virtual): IKF Digital Health course. Lecture.
October 30-31: Private event on ethical use of AI in patient-provider partnerships.

Winter 2024

January 29-Feb 2 (virtual): HL7 FHIR Work Group Meeting. Participant for Patient Empowerment Workgroup
February 15-19, Amelia Island: Renaissance Weekend. Participant, panelist.
March 14, Orlando: HIMSS. Panelist speaking about “Casey QR code” IPS project.
March 18-20, Boston: AMIA Informatics Summit. Panel presentation – Patients in AI.

Spring 2024

May 14-16, Maastricht, Netherlands: International Policy Forum (speaker); ICT&Health Plenary speaker.
May 18-24, Dallas: HL7 FHIR Work Group Meeting. Participant for Patient Empowerment WG; IPS QR code project.
June 7, IKF, Bern: virtual lecture.
June 10-14, Minneapolis: FHIR DevDays. “Patients Use AI” Co-organizer and panelist
June 16-20, San Diego: DIA Global Annual Meeting. Multiple panels.

Summer 2024

June 27-28, Boston: DCI Network “Future of ePatient Engagement.” Opening keynote.
Vacation.

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