Casual Conversation with Liz, Dave and Peter April 23rd, 2023

Please join classmate Peter Elias and his two invited guests for a Casual Conversation via Zoom on Sunday, April 23rd from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm ET, where we will explore the benefits of active patient (or caregiver) participation in the management of one’s own health and illness care.  The information provided for Peter and each of his guests includes links to helpful information, but reading/reviewing the information is not in any way required: There will be no tests.  Bring your interest, concerns, and questions on a topic that should be of intense interest to us all, for ourselves, our loved ones, and our friends.

Peter

Peter Elias '69 is a retired family physician who rejected what he was taught in medical school: a good physician gives the patient what they need and convinces them it is what they want. Instead, he explored what he called 'collaborative medicine' and was delighted to find that he was not alone in this approach. He has arranged a conversation with two leading advocates of patient engagement. Join us to learn more about how and why to manage your own health care going forward.

Here is a video of Peter explaining his process, done by OpenNotes:

https://www.opennotes.org/news/opennotes-easing-the-burden-in-primary-care/

Dave:

Dave deBronkart was 56 in 2006 when he discovered he was almost dead with Stage IV kidney cancer. He survived (cured in less than a year), partly from good luck, but also because he chose to be very actively involved in hunting down all the information he could. Today his oncologist says "I'm not sure you could have tolerated enough medicine to do the job if you hadn't been so involved." He's since become a global keynote speaker and evangelist for patient engagement (his slogan is "Let Patients Help"), especially through access to our medical records.

For brief pre-reads I'd suggest linking to 

Liz:

Liz Salmi is Communications & Patient Initiatives Director for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA (by way of Sacramento, CA). After being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor at age 29, Liz immediately put her digital communications skills to use by blogging, chronicling her daily symptoms, and seeing how much trouble she could get into with her online patient portal. Over the last 15 years, Liz has been: a research subject; an advisor in patient stakeholder groups; a leader in patient engagement research initiatives; and an innovator, educator and investigator in national educational and research projects. It is rumored Liz was the drummer in a punk rock band. 

Additional reading/watching: 

The usual rules apply. Let me know by the close of business on Friday, April 21, that you wish to join us to attend the Casual Conversation. Send the RSVP to my email: arthur.fergenson@ansalaw.com .

See you soon!

Arthur Fergenson