Photo Friday: 6 year disruptorversary with Jay Parkinson, MD

Ted and Jay  54425
Ted and Jay, in the future, where we live (View on Flickr.com)

Jay Parkinson (@JayParkinson) and I met up this time the same way we did the first time, when I think I texted (or Gchatted?) Jay while I was cruising through Williamsburg, New York, back in 2009 (to which he responded, “come on over”). This time he was the messager and it was great/exciting to connect again.

Close to 6 years ago, we were both featured in this article in Health Affairs: Now Reading: Take Two Aspirin And Tweet Me In The Morning: How Twitter, Facebook, And Other Social Media Are Reshaping Health Care. Health Affairs. 2009 Mar 1 | Ted Eytan, MD.

I’ve been a fan/friend of Jay’s since before 2009, probably 2007-ish. Since then I’ve refused to believe he’s been interested in anything other than providing what people/humans want out of their health, even if he didn’t do it the way that we were all taught it is supposed to be ((I think your generation is) a polarizing figure. | Ted Eytan, MD).

On our walk through the historic NoMa neighborhood in Washington, I asked what he thought has changed in the 6 years since that piece was published. To paraphrase we talked about the democratization of the internet and social media. I couldn’t have imagined my CEO being on Twitter then. He is, and not doing a bad job @JackHCochran, I’m happy to see it, he’s frankly awesome. The other thing we reflected on is the fact that health is a “thing” now, with pretty significant investments and interest that didn’t exist 6 years ago.

Jay is now running Sherpaa, and I’m happily at The Center for Total Health. Back then I was very much in “Health Information Technology,” now I am in “Health.” Jay’s been there already, for a longer time. It’s a pleasure to continue inhabit the future with him, even if I may never catch up 🙂 .

Ted Eytan, MD