Launching OnPulse for Better Health Care Communications
The foyer atrium was flooded with light as I walked toward the collection of of sofas and chairs near the glass wall. It was decidedly more quiet than the exhibitor area and not as dark as the ballrooms. A group of four individuals sat casually around a coffee table chatting. I first became aware of OnPulse, a healthcare communications company that uses innovative health information technologies to improve coordination of care in April while attending the TEDMED conference. There, I had the pleasure to speak with Corey Booker, MD and his associate David Armstrong. When I saw that they were participating in the Health 2.0 Spring Fling: Matchpoint Boston conference, I reached out to set up an interview.
Dr. Otis Brawley, Shares with Journalists “How We Do Harm”
Imagine being a physician in the midst of residency training, caring for an elderly patient who is terminally ill. The family tells you at each consultation to do everything possible to save their father. With the greatest medical technology at your disposal, you do your best to care for your patient and his family. There are machines to control heart rate and breathing and tubes to bring in food and remove wastes, so your patient lives more than a month longer than any physician would have expected. But were you true to your oath, “first do no harm”?
#HAWMC: Warning! We Are All Suffering from A Condition Known As Pre-Death
If only everyone’s transition into death could be as smooth and peaceful as what the artists choose to depict. We all know that one day we will die but we have no idea when or how. This ignorance protects us. It allows us to make our way though the world—heart-beating, breathing, experiencing the space around us, making connections, sharing ideas—in essence, we create a life. As a healthcare activist, I try to encourage people to take an autonomous approach to managing both health and illness, so that they might maximize and optimize that life. The message is catching on. In my opinion, however, this autonomy should extend right up until the moment you take your last breath.
#HAWMC: Stream of Consciousness After TEDMED Day #3
After two extremely packed days at the TEDMED conference and absence from this series, today’s post continues the month-long series called the Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge (#HAWMC) created by WEGO Health. Today’s writing prompt: Stream of Consciousness Day. Start with the sentence “_______”just write, don’t stop, don’t edit. Post! It’s been two awe-inspiring days of TEDMED2012 … Read more
Surviving The Worst Year of My Life (Part II)
The day I got diagnosed was the day I really started living. There was almost a sense of relief. I didn’t have to focus on having enough money to retire at 65 or 67. I no longer had to worry about having good credit. I could actually live each day to the fullest. I was a work-a-holic before I was diagnosed. I am still a work-a-holic, but I’m more focused on the things that matter to me.
Surviving The Worst Year of My Life (Part I)
Today is the last day of the worst year of my life. I am sharing this story with the hopes of bringing inspiration, not despair. This year I almost took my last breath on several occasions. July 2009, I was diagnosed with
What Do You Do When You Are Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer? (Part I)
It was November 2009 when my father thought he might have a stomach virus from one of the numerous holiday parties that he and my mother had attended. A number of people from his job had also gotten sick so we didn’t think much of it when he stayed home a couple of days from work with symptoms of the stomach flu. He went to our family physician and she ran a couple of tests on him. In particular, she was concerned that he may have gotten Hepatitis A from the dinner party.
Investments in Community Health Centers May Improve the Economy Along with Health
Dr. Whelan was joined by Daniel Hawkins, Jr. of the National Association of Community Health Centers, Rebecca Keen-Fan Sze of the Wang Community Health Center and Stephanie Kenyon of the Loudoun Community Health Center for what I consider to be an enlightening discussion of the role of community health centers in the current American healthcare system and its changing role during the current age of health care reform.
