Opinion

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.

Commentary, Vol. 5, 2013

A Model for the Future of Health Care

Charles W. Smith, Terry Graedon, Joe Graedon, Alan Greene, John Grohol, and Danny Sands | May 16, 2013

Today’s patients have access to more medical information on their smartphones than late-twentieth-century Surgeons General had available to them from all their health information resources. Major change is afoot in health care. What will that change look like?

Commentary, Vol. 5, 2013

Shared Decision Making: Using Federal Health Policy as a Lever to Support Implementation

Jessica M. Osborne-Stafsnes | May 10, 2013

Many clinicians and patients may agree that shared decision making (SDM) will control health care costs and improve efficiency, but we need a clear and coordinated national strategy to support implementation of SDM if it is to deliver on its promises.

Letters, Vol. 5, 2013

Why We Need Electronic Diagnostic Tools

Lincoln Weed | May 1, 2013

The coauthor of Medicine in Denial argues that the best protection for patients against diagnostic failure is the use of electronic tools to enforce high standards of care for managing clinical information.

Commentary, Vol. 5, 2013

It’s Time to Account for Medical Error in “Top Ten Causes of Death” Charts

Bart Windrum | April 24, 2013

Including fatal medical error in “top ten causes of death” charts and in public end-of-life discussions would be an act of participatory medicine on several counts: for medicine, ownership, transparency, and disclosure; which would offer citizens the opportunity to factor in medical error as we strive toward the goal of a peaceful death.

Editorials, Vol. 5, 2013

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.

Editorials, Vol. 5, 2013

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.

Commentary, Vol. 5, 2013

Relationships Will Never Be Obsolete in Medicine

Peter Elias | February 8, 2013

I have always believed that the relationship between the patient and their clinician is a vital part of care. But I wonder if I have misunderstood what is going on.

Editorials, Vol. 5, 2013

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.

Editorials, Vol. 5, 2013

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.

Editorials, 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.

Editorials, 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?

Editorials, Vol. 4, 2012

Is the Standard of Care Good Enough for You?

Terry Graedon | October 3, 2012

There’s a race on for hospitals and health care providers to demonstrate evidence-based practice. But while evidence-based care is certainly better than care based on opinion, speculation, or tradition, patients need to start depending on each other to get the best care possible.

Commentary, Vol. 4, 2012

Collaboration, Communication and Connection: Fostering Patient Engagement in Health Care

Nancy B. Finn | September 5, 2012

Engaging patients is a collaborative process that begins with good communication.

Letters, Vol. 4, 2012

An e-Patient’s Frustration

Roger Johnson | August 30, 2012

Inspired by a recent JoPM article, the author shares his struggle to be heard by his physician.

Editorials, Vol. 4, 2012

Practical Followup

Alan Greene | August 29, 2012

Is there a practical way to decrease the barriers to efficient, ongoing followup communication between patients and health care providers?

Commentary, Vol. 4, 2012

The Impact of Open Access and Social Media on Scientific Research

K. Thomas Pickard | July 18, 2012

Traditionally, research papers undergo peer review before publication. Two trends, open access and social media, are changing the peer review process.

Editorials, Vol. 4, 2012

Solving the Followup Dilemma

Charles W. Smith and Joe Graedon | July 4, 2012

Solving the followup dilemma will be the dawn of a new age in medicine, one in which participatory medicine will be the norm, rather than the exception.

Editorials, Vol. 4, 2012

The Power of Facilitated Followup

Joe Graedon | June 6, 2012

Clinicians have little time to discuss treatment plans or drug benefits and risks with patients. The rubber meets the road after someone leaves the doctor’s office and starts taking the medicine or implementing a care plan.