It’s time again for an Internet Holiday. You can read about the philosophy behind this from past holidays. Once, maybe twice a year is a good idea.

Comments and trackbacks will be locked in the meantime.

I’ll leave things with a nice summer photograph, the Washington Nationals Baseball Park, Washington Monument in the distance.

While at Massachusetts General Hospital last week, as a guest of The Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Improvement, I was invited to meet the team at the Laboratory of Computer Science based at MGH. The Lab of Computer Science produces the OnCall series of clinical web portals, which are a front end to the Computer Stored Ambulatory Record medical record system.

The reason it is a “series” and not “a front end” is because this system actually has brands that are specific to the specialties and care that it supports. Here’s a picture from a computer screen that shows them:

I decided to start recruiting the patient voice by seeing what patients are already writing about their condition on their blogs, using blood pressure as an example. I have set up a link cloud with all of these:

tedeytan’s bookmarks tagged with “patient_voice” on del.icio.us

I have also posted the last several below this. There are several impressive things about this review:

1. Patients are writing about their conditions - we don’t have to go far anymore to listen
2. Even for a condition that some medical providers might consider “not as significant,” there are significant feelings - fear of being diagnosed, fear of treatment, fear of being out of control
3. People are interested in knowing what they can about their conditions so that they can manage them confidently, and they may be asking each other as much (if not more) than their doctor.

Read the links attached to this cloud…and if you have others, post them or direct them to my del.icio.us account.

• Michelle’s Cancer Treatment Update: 2008-June 29-first chemo treatment in Seattle - Mention of blood pressure management

• TMAGNUM FORUMS - Blood Pressure Medication - Lifters support each other in the discussion of managing high blood pressure

• HealthVault : Conference presentations now available… - If you weren't in Bellevue, Washington, in early June, you can do a little catching up on HealthVault. I’ve reviewed these presentations, and the amount of thinking that has gone into the health ecosystem is very impressive. And I’m critical of these things. Of significance, there’s some nice thinking displayed regarding bringing small practices online. Well done.

• husband given unknown medication - WORLD Law Direct Forums - A patient's wife asks for information about her husband's medications while he is incarcerated

• The Last Ten « MISERY ON THE MEND - A patient talks about the impact of being diagnosed with high blood pressure

• ::FutureFashion:: || ::VoiceOut::: Sicking to celebrate - "Afraid to be a blood pressure patient"

• Winnowings - A patient goes to her doctor to make a connection between a diuretic and foot pain (likely causing a flare of gout)