006 – Interview: Surviving Cancer & Better Healthcare Through Being an e-Patient

In This Episode:

Dr. K talks with “e-Patient Dave” deBronkart, a co-founder of the Society for Participatory Medicine. Dave is a well-known advocate for improving healthcare by encouraging people to become “equipped, enabled, and empowered” when it comes to their own healthcare. They discuss:

• How getting information from an online patient community helped Dave survive a usually fatal cancer
• What is an “e-patient,” and why being proactive leads to better healthcare
• Why public access to health information is creating a sea change in the practice of medicine
• How the patients’ rights movement is creating a culture change that some doctors find threatening
• Why it’s better for patients and doctors to act as partners and “share the knowledge”
• Practical tips on getting more informed regarding your own (or your family member’s) healthcare
• What kinds of doctors to avoid, and how to get a second opinion

Related Resources:

• e-Patient Dave’s books:
  • Let Patients Help! A patient engagement handbook
  • Laugh, Sing, and Eat Like a Pig: How an Empowered Patient Beat Stage IV Cancer (and what healthcare can learn from it)
• About the patient empowerment movement
  • ePatient Dave: voice of the patient
  • e-Patients.net blog
  • Society for Participatory Medicine website
• Practical resources to participate more in healthcare
  • Center for Advancing Health: Be A Prepared Patient
  • How to Age Better by Optimizing Chronic Conditions: The Healthy Aging Checklist Part 4