Society for Participatory MedicineEditorials
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.
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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 MoreEditorials, Vol. 6, 2014
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.
Read MoreEditorials, Vol. 6, 2014
“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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The Real Problem with Misdiagnosis
Charles W. Smith | April 3, 2013
If all we needed to reduce misdiagnosis was better software, we wouldn’t need physicians with years of education and training.
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Is Larry Weed Right?
Terry Graedon | March 18, 2013
Diagnostic software tools may be the answer to the perennial problem of misdiagnosis, according to a controversial physician-author. Co Editor in Chief Terry Graedon looks at the recent evidence.
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Patient Experience, Outcomes, and Participatory Medicine
Charles W. Smith | February 7, 2013
The author argues that optimal health outcomes are impossible without patient participation, especially feedback.
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Harnessing the Power of Patient Experience for Understanding Side Effects
Joe Graedon and Terry Graedon | January 24, 2013
Once patients were able to connect with each other online, they realized that certain side effects were more common than they had imagined. Now the FDA has also come to the realization that the patient experience matters.
Read MoreEditorials, Vol. 4, 2012
Knocking Down Barriers to Care with Patient Centered Medical Homes
Charles W. Smith and Terry Graedon | December 5, 2012
Everyone encounters barriers to care at one time or another, but they must be removed if we hope to create a cost-effective health care system that can engage patients and help them take responsibility for their own health.
Read MoreEditorials, Vol. 4, 2012
The Participatory Seal
Alan Greene | November 21, 2012
What would it be like if patients could identify participatory physicians as easily as they could use Yelp to identify a restaurant serving their favorite style of food?
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