Society for Participatory MedicineOpinion
Editorials, Vol. 7, 2015
Improved Lifestyle is the Pathway to Health
Charles W. Smith and John Lester | October 6, 2015
it is ironic that patient-provider encounters spend so much time and effort on obtaining lab tests and adjusting medications and doses when attention isn’t being paid to addressing basic lifestyle issues. What accounts for this disconnect?
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Making Treatment Decisions in the Midst of Chaos
Joe Graedon | May 21, 2015
When the diagnosis is murky and the best treatment is unclear, patients must make treatment decisions amidst chaos and information overload. Co-Editor-in-Chief Joe Graedon shares his experience in navigating this tricky territory.
Read MoreCommentary, Vol. 7, 2015
Lightning Goes to Ground
Peter Elias | April 10, 2015
What really drives positive change in health care? A participatory physician argues that the key is the autonomy and empowerment of individual patients.
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Participatory Care in the Nursing Home Setting
Constance K. Smith | February 23, 2015
Resident and family participation in nursing home care is becoming more the rule than the exception. The author’s challenge to nursing homes is to design formal ways to make it easier for patients and families to provide feedback.
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Digital Photography and the Medical Selfie
Kara Burns | February 11, 2015
Patient generated health data – especially medical photography – can be very powerful aids in diagnosis and doctor-patient and communications.
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Patient and Family Access to Electronic Health Records: A Key Ingredient for a Pediatric Learning Health System
K.T. Park, Michelle D. Park and Christopher A. Longhurst | January 21, 2015
Giving patients access to their own EHRs could encourage them to better co-manage their disease as well as to contribute to ongoing clinical research.
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Participatory Pediatrics
Alan Greene | January 14, 2015
Taking care of children might seem like an area of medicine where paternalism should be welcomed and accepted. But even in pediatrics, building agency and participation can be particularly powerful.
Read MoreCommentary, Vol. 6, 2014
The Future of Primary Care: One Medical Student’s View
Joseph P. Allencherril | November 12, 2014
Both patients and physicians have grown too accustomed to the status quo of long waits and too little time to discuss the patient’s health or ask questions. The author envisions a future where primary care visits offer greater convenience and better outcomes for both practitioner and patient.
Read MoreCommentary, Vol. 6, 2014
Addressing the Problem of Medication Non-Participation
Nancy B. Finn | October 10, 2014
There is mounting evidence that patient non-participation in taking prescribed medications is associated with adverse outcomes and higher costs of care. The author analyzes the problem and offers practical solutions.
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E-Patients Never Retire
Joe Graedon and Terry Graedon | September 16, 2014
Older patients have something to tell their health care providers: look at me; listen to me; and speak with me rather than to the person who may have come with me to the visit. Even enlightened health care providers may need to examine their implicit assumptions about older patients more closely.
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A Tribute to Jessie Gruman, Founding JoPM Co-Editor
Charles W. Smith | July 25, 2014
Jessie had a uniquely constructive approach to Participatory Medicine that will be sorely missed and will not easily be replaced.
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“I No Longer Have to Go to See the Doctor:” How the Patient Portal is Changing Medical Practice
Charles W. Smith | May 14, 2014
Since the introduction of a patient portal in our electronic medical record, my practice has changed substantially. My patients tell me it’s for the better.
Read MoreEditorials, Vol. 6, 2014
The Patient, the Provider, and Participatory Medicine—Are We a House Divided?
Charles W. Smith | February 6, 2014
What does “participatory medicine” really mean? Widely varying interpretations have sometimes led to confusion and conflict, and threaten to limit our progress in advancing health.
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Fighting over Homework: an e-Patient Debate
Joe Graedon and Terry Graedon | January 8, 2014
Co-Editors-in-Chief Joe and Terry Graedon cite evidence that e-patients who research their conditions are in a much better position to weigh the benefits and risks of medication. But what about the many patients who don’t want to do their health care homework?
Read MoreEditorials, Vol. 5, 2013
Tom Ferguson’s Triangles in the 21st Century: An Initial Proposal
Alan Greene and Cheryl Greene | November 27, 2013
In 1995, Tom Ferguson, MD, predicted that the World Wide Web would turn health care on its head. Two decades later, his vision is holding up, and then some.
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Is the EMR Enhancing or Hindering Patient-Provider Interactions?
Charles W. Smith | October 23, 2013
For better or worse, the exam-room encounter between a provider and a patient is drastically different now compared to “pre-EMR” days. Co-Editor-in-Chief Charlie Smith, MD tells how a participatory approach to using the EMR can enhance the benefits and overcome the challenges of the technology.
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Putting Patients on the Health Care Team
Joe Graedon and Terry Graedon | August 21, 2013
The airline industry offers us a magnificent model for how teamwork can save lives. With patients as “co-pilots,” clinicians and patients can work together to improve health care outcomes.
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How Do You Know if You’re Getting Good Medical Care?
Charles W. Smith | July 17, 2013
Good medical care is difficult to describe because “good,” like “beauty,” is in the eye of the beholder — and, thus, is very subjective.
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Why Don’t e-Patients Take Their Pills?
Joe Graedon and Terry Graedon | June 19, 2013
Health professionals often feel frustrated or even angry when patients don’t take their medication. And patients may feel exasperated when prescribers seemingly ignore complaints about side effects. This communication gap leads either to confrontation and finger-wagging, or to patients keeping silent about what they are or are not doing. Neither approach belongs in a participatory medicine encounter. What’s the solution?
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Participatory Diagnosis
Alan Greene | May 22, 2013
Rather than denigrating patients’ partial or complete self-diagnosis, clinicians should encourage, inform, and incorporate the patients’ process as a tool for arriving at the truth. Participatory diagnosis is better diagnosis.
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