Relentless Health Value

First of all, new lingo – patient unit. A patient unit consists of the patient and their family or otherwise who are actively engaged in a patient’s care. Some patient units are under-engaged. We talk a lot about these patients. Other patient units are motivated and empowered and could use our help to maximize the results of their efforts. We don’t talk a lot about these patients, but let’s change that. Today, I speak with Andrew Schorr, Founder of Patient Power.

 Andrew Schorr is a medical journalist who was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 1996 and has remained in remission since then. He is the founder of HealthTalk.com, PatientPower.info and PatientPower.eu. He is board chair of the Patient Empowerment Foundation in Europe. He is also the author of The Web-Savvy Patient: An Insider’s Guide to Navigating the Internet When Facing Medical Crisis, which was published in 2011. Andrew is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

00:00 What a Patient Unit is.
01:30 Patient Engagement from the patient side.
03:15 Defining the Patient and Viewing the Family Unit.
04:20 The under-engaged patient vs. the empowered patient.
06:30 Advice for helping empowered patients.
06:50 “People want to get well.”
07:00 Transparency from every care worker, from receptionist to provider.
07:45 Think like a patient.
11:20 Best practices & common themes that physicians are doing to get patients on track.
13:00 Using your social and digital platforms to improve patient health.
15:50 “Go where the patients are.”
17:00 “You have to be part of the dialogue.”
19:30 Upending the “paternalistic” healthcare model.
22:00 Payers and Patient Engagement.
22:45 The Cost of Care.
26:00 Employers, Payers, Government, and the Cost of Care.
27:45 How organizations can manage costs.
29:45 Honest communication.
30:20 Mail-Order Pharmacies.
32:50 Social Media listening.