Looking Forward to MedX

Last year I was an ePatient Delegate to MedX; once it was over I was able to call myself an ePatient Scholar. 

Being there was an experience that changed me. Even though I made some super-klutzy moves that I will keep to myself, I have no regrets. Meeting so many Twitter friends and powerful patients who speak my language was an irresistible draw.

This year I won't be there, so you might ask, why am I looking forward to MedX? 

I'll be trying to watch on the livestream, but on Saturday I'll be at an all-day session of a Citizen Advisory Group, and on Sunday will be in a participatory meeting ensuring that elderly Canadians and their caregivers will have their voices heard.

Events like these were not on my calendar prior to Medicine X. It changed the way I look at the health care system and the role of patients in it. It also affected my confidence in the ability of patients, (including myself) to be involved in decisions about health care.

MedX is more than just a three day experience for the patients who attend - they all have work to do to prepare themselves. Giving an Ignite talk is more than just standing up and talking for five minutes. The presenters work on the Ignite talk all summer - they consult, prepare and practice.

The IDEO Design Challenge showed a different way to learn and think - reading books on Design Thinking, watching videos, and preparing the ideas - the "How might we..." statements that the prototypes are based on.

The ePatients on the production track work hard too - blogging, tweeting and publicizing the event before, during and after the conference. In addition there were other team building projects so that by the time  ePatient Delegates arrive at MedX they feel like part of a team.

You might wonder how this connects to looking forward to this year's MedX for me when I will miss so much of it?

The reason is that this process, the work that the ePatients do means that when the candidates arrive at Medicine X they are prepared - equipped for the conference, enthusiastic and ready to be changed.

Seeding like a dandelion (Sydney, Australia)

And that's what I look forward. Seeing more patient advocates develop larger profiles as coming year unfolds, seeing the connections they make help their work grow and spread, seeing more people who are empowered and confident of their abilities to change the way things work in healthcare. They're also ready to inspire others, to encourage them to go to MedX next year and create more change.

ePatients don't always just pop up out of nowhere - they need a little sunshine to grow, and that's what MedX is good at, so good luck and have fun to all of the new ePatient Delegates!

Connections. MedX 2012 from @symplur. 

Medicine X is Close and has a Global Access Program

Alan Brewington (@abrewi13010), an ePatient Scholar, issued a suggestion to ePatients attending MedX this year. I took it as a challenge to write a post about the Who, What, Where, When and Why of Stanford Medicine X.

2013 MedX painting by Regina Holliday

In the What section it sounds as though Dr Larry Chu's brainchild conference with a capital C is well established as the most popular conference on Twitter, and Symplur has the graphs and charts to prove it. My favourite one of all shows the conversation between participants physically at MedX 2013 and then expands to show all of the links and connections all over the world. I also love to see video mapping of the way that conversations on Twitter spread through groups and individuals. If you look at this page you can see a time lapse video map of the conversation in 2012, and last year the number of tweets was up 170% from then.

The Who of MedX from my patient view includes many of the people I've been following, listening to, or conversing with on Twitter. Last year I watched as much of the livestream as I could, while I followed the conversation on Twitter at the same time. It was an immersive experience. Despite the obvious fact that I was not in California and was wearing "sitting around at home" casual clothes, I was exhausted after the three days ended and the real life participants flew home. I'm really excited to be attending in person as an ePatient delegate this year. 

Of course I'll be dressed

In addition to the people I think of as friends already there are experts from many areas of health care and innovation. Last year Jack Andraka was so quotable. This year the presenters include keynote speakers such as Daniel Siegel, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA and author of The New York Times bestseller Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain and panel discussions like those about emerging technologies in mental health led by Malay Gandhi, chief operating officer of Rock Health, a business accelerator for start-up companies in health-care technology.

What is MedX? To a patient advocate it is far more than a great place to connect with others who share your point of view (at least some of it). It's a place where you're exposed to startling new ideas, meet some of the people you "see" every week (virtually), and where you form bonds that last well after the conference is over.

On the plus side though, even at home you can get a lot of that feeling through watching and tweeting. There are many reasons that being there in person is not possible for ePatients and this year Medicine X has a new feature. There is a special Global Access Program available internationally to ePatients, academic scholars and students so that they can participate virtually in addition to watching on the web. To use this interactive access you can register here for the conference on September 5th to 7th. With this you can see the main stage speakers.

Feel free to spread the word about this to others in your own community. It sounds as though Medicine X is using design thinking. Using the question "How might we....? as a starting point they have found a way to include many more people in the conference.

The schedule is full of events I don't want to miss and people I can't wait to see, so whether it is virtual or in-person I hope to see you there. 

Word Bubble from Medicine X 2013

Last year the Medicine X was a revelation of patient inclusion. The conferences I have been to or seen advertised since then are notable for excluding patients through high admission, tokenism, or stating "We're all patients" even when they use terms like patient-centric or patient engagement in the conference designation. Here's a quote from an ePatient Scholar

“Medicine X is all about people working together toward changing health care for the better, and everyone is welcome,” said e-patient Hugo Campos. “Patients are on an equal footing with all other participants, and that’s fundamental for fostering true partnership toward change.”

The “X” in Medicine X is meant to evoke a move beyond numbers and trends—it represents the infinite possibilities for current and future information technologies to improve health. For the Global Access program X also represents what it costs to tune in to the live stream. X is the value virtual attendees get from the experience. X is what it’s worth to be included. X is up to you.

"Stanford Medicine X is a catalyst for new ideas, designed to explore social media and information technology’s power to advance medical practices, improve health, and empower patients to participate in their own care. "

With Medicine X less than a month away and a visit from grandchildren you may notice a summer hiatus here at Rheutired blog.