When people are ready to promote patient empowerment/engagement, what can they do?

The title of this post is a variant of the title of another post (“When physicians are ready to promote patient empowerment/engagement, do we want them to do?“). That post came about from a conversation with another physician. This one is coming about with a conversation with a person, not a physician, Erica Brand, who works in silicon valley and is interested in the same idea.

We got in touch because Erica has been following the work of myself and the e-patients.net group, and on reflection of her own experience with health care is interested in making a difference.

We talked about different opportunities for someone with talent in an industry that is not health care could help health care succeed, and there are lots of them. For example, depending on who a person’s employer is, they may belong to a coalition of employers focused on health issues. In California, this might be The Pacific Business Group on Health, or in silicon valley, the Silicon Valley Employers Forum is an affiliate of PBGH, which is also a place to get involved in transforming health care.

As I look back at the original post, though, the advice/recommendations are generally the same, which says to me that we all have as much if not more in common as fellow patients than we do being in health care / not being in health care. I still think health care can learn a lot from other industries and we should welcome all of the help we can get, and I think talent is talent regardless of the industry that it comes from. In the era of Health 2.0, the improvement of health is truly democratic.

It is nice to discover in these conversations that there are many people who want to bring their professional and personal experiences forward to help us improve. Come join us!

Ted Eytan, MD