I just finished a talk at the Internatioal Quality Forum hosted by the British Medical Journal and the Institute for Quality Improvement. (The Twitter hashtag is #Quality2013.) What a thrill to talk here – making the case to Let Patients Help!
There was a timing glitch, though – they accidentally ended my talk 15 minutes early, so there was no question and answer. Attendees, if you’d like to discuss, leave a question in the comments here.
Great speech – what a superb insight into how a patient views consultations and their health, and how they can positively input into their diagnosis and ongoing care. Certainly made me consider my approach to patient care. How can we ensure that the information patients are looking at online is accurate and good quality, and not indeed giving them false hope or inaccurate information?
Hi Naomi – thanks for your kind words.
> How can we ensure that the information patients are looking at online
> is accurate and good quality
It’s a deep question, with much uncertainty to it. If you follow Ben Goldacre MD’s work, you know that there’s also much uncertainty about peer reviewed literature, too! (I can dig out some links if you want.) And recent discussion of the new Reproducibility Initiative has revealed that many landmark studies can’t be replicated.
Then there’s the work of John Ioannidis, documenting that many studies turn out to be wrong later.
So what is reliable information? How does a doctor encourage
I know that no matter what I myself say about it, there’s extra credibility to the views of a well respected physician. That’s one reason I invited my primary physician, Dr. Danny Sands, to collaborate with me in the book I’m giving away (as an ebook) through Saturday. He wrote several sections, including his own guide to effective googling. Instructions for getting it free (or buying it) are here.
As you’ll see, his rules are informative, concise and practical.
So sorry that you were cut short…. I found the presentation inspirational and will not forget the message that you so passionately shared. Thank you.
Lucy, my talks are always of variable length (sometimes chaotically so)… a good speaker can deliver the message no matter what the circumstances. My TEDx talk was just 16 minutes long and was been well received!
Glad you enjoyed it.