In September, the Partnership With Patients Summit will convene in Kansas City, thanks to the tenacity of longtime patient advocate Regina Holliday. Kansas City-based Cerner has graciously provide a venue for the Summit.
The idea for the Partnership With Patients began—as most great ideas do—with a single spark.
“Recently I wrote Pecking Order, a post recounting a webinar call on May 22between patients, a contracted PR firm and CMS officials,” writes Regina on her blog. “The call was supposed to be a collaborative webinar session replacing an in-person patient summit due to severe restrictions on federal travel. Sadly, during the call, patients did not have much time to speak. That changed an hour and a half in, when I spoke out. The patients took over the call and spoke about our views on the CMS-funded initiative Partnership for Patients. It became a call to action.”
Since the end of May, Partnership With Patients has quickly grown to encompass discussions at events like HealthcampDC to not only raise awareness of Partnership With Patients, but also to inspire people to join the movement.
What Is Partnership With Patients?
Through events, discussions and other resources, Partnership With Patients is working toward two goals:
- Keeping patients from getting injured or sicker.
- Help patients return home without complication.
After all, these goals seem like no-brainers, right? You shouldn’t have to worry about getting injured or becoming more ill while you’re receiving care. However, research estimates that as many as 98,000 Americans die every year from preventable medical errors. Preventable medical errors. Pretty sobering, isn’t it?
Lowering this number would not only (and most importantly) save lives, but it would also reduce healthcare costs, too.
Improving patient care should be a priority of every medical provider. But it’s also critical for patients to better understand their options and become empowered to make decisions, find help and advocate for better care. Who better to be the steward of your own health and wellness than, well, you? And really, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re probably part of the problem. And healthcare today, it’s really a very big problem.
Want to Get Involved? Here’s How
Want to be a part of the solution? We hope so. If you’re interested in learning more about what you can do to become a patient advocate for yourself and for others, make plans to attend the Partnership With Patients Summit in Kansas City in September. There, you can not only educate yourself, but you can also meet and network with other patient advocates and members of the healthcare system. And, equally as important, you can let your voice be heard, too. After all, there’s strength in numbers—and the more people involved, the more effective Partnership With Patients can be.
As Regina writes, “When I look at Cerner, I don’t seen an old legacy EMR system. I see a future cloud/legacy composite that could save lives. I see one company among many, many companies willing to collaborate with patients. I see what amazing things we can accomplish if we all work together and shoulder this task. I see a space where we can come together and educate patient speakers about HIT, patient safety and health policy. I see the potential of helping 200 new patient advocates as the next generation of ePatient Daves, Trisha Torreys and Regina Hollidays.”
We hope we’ve convinced you to set aside September 21-23 and come join us at the Summit. You can register here and if you need suggestions on where to stay or what to do while here, let us know!
Image via Regina Holliday
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