e-Patient Dave

Power to the Patient!

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Prices must have integrity

Yesterday in A turning point for patient voices I said that the market for patient voices is maturing, leading to a need for two new initiatives:

I said today I’d present the pricing policy, but first I need to establish a foundation:

Prices must have integrity

I’m no student of formal pricing theory, but I do know this: Some list prices are real, and some are cheesy – fake prices that nobody actually pays:

  • Some list prices are inflated so the real price can be advertised as “40% off!!”
  • Some list prices are a starting point for negotiation (e.g. car sales)
  • etc.

Why do some marketers play these games? Because consumers tend to like thinking they got a discount. That’s fine with me, but it’s not my approach. I prefer to deliver value and charge accordingly. Prices must have integrity, and discounts must be based on rules that you actually enforce.

Why it matters

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A turning point for patient voices

Patients Included badge

In February I announced that after three years of struggle I’d reached breakeven. This has made new things possible – for instance, an office outside the home. It also makes possible a new policy for pricing my speeches.

This is a significant moment, so I’m breaking this into two posts: today the background, tomorrow the new policy.

Prologue

It’s been an uphill climb. Like many before me I’ve had many requests to donate my time: “We’d love to have you speak, but we don’t have any money” (or hardly any).

I’ve had to insist on being businesslike so I wouldn’t go out of business. This led to some interesting discussions, e.g. my most-commented post ever, on this site: “Should consumers be regulated?”

I want to do everything I can to foster the growth of this movement, both by changing the business climate and by helping others step in. So there have been issues to think about and manage, both on the business dimension and in the progress of the “movement,” if I can call it that.

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Let My Data Go: the HIMSS Interop Showcase

Title slide: Let My Data Go

As regular readers know, I feel rather strongly about the power of information. As a data geek, a high tech innovation freak, and a fan of improving health and care, I want the power of data to be set free.

In health IT, that means exchanging data between systems – because if it’s locked up in one system, nobody else can add value to it. And at the point where it might save a life, it might not be there.

And when that’s you, or your daughter, or your mother, or even some male relative, that could make all the difference in the world.

You think video killed the radio star?  In my career in industry, I lived through disruptive innovation, when desktop publishing killed typesetting. I know what power there is when data gets lose and innovators can add value to it. We need that in medicine. And that’s interoperability.

That’s what I’ll be talking about at 4:00 pm Monday in the Interoperability Showcase Theater, at the big HIMSS (health IT) conference in New Orleans next week. If you’re a data geek, or if anyone you know consumes medical services, this issue is important to you. Come give it up for interop – to let my data go!

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Regina’s “Partnership WITH Patients” conference: donate, attend. (I am.)

Cross-posted from e-patients.net today.  I know my subscribers here have been following the growth of this movement; look at this truly extraordinary development, created by one widow with two kids and no foundation funding, and a bunch of peer supporters.

This is a hint of what social media can enable in giving voice to the disenfranchised – in healthcare and everywhere. You can help – support it in a large or small way. Use our ready-to-click links below.:-)

Yes, “Regina” – you know who I mean.:-) You know someone’s a star in the firmament when they gain first-name status. (Especially in healthcare, where “the other Regina” happens to be Surgeon General!)

As we reported here in June, Regina Holliday has led a band of patient colleagues and professional partners in creating this event, hosted by EMR vendor Cerner, to train and develop patients’ skills as effective advocates and related topics.

This is as grass roots as it gets – please support it,
as I am, personally, with time and cash.

Also, SPM is providing the infrastructure
for tax-free donations to support patient travel.

Summary of links below:

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