How e-Patient Dave Survived Stage IV Kidney Cancer - UPDATED

In 2007, I discovered out of nowhere
that I was almost dead of Stage IV kidney cancer.
I got great medical care, and within six months,
my treatment had finished, and I'm pretty much all better now.
While I was sick, I was pretty much desperate.
I wanted to do anything I could to understand what was happening
and help my doctors in any way I could,
for the maximum chance that they could do their miracles.
And one of the things I did was,
my hospital provides a patient portal,
so I could look at portions of my medical record,
understand what was going on,
ask my medically knowledgeable friends and family
to help me understand, and just basically
be as involved as I could possibly be
in helping my doctors.
Health IT can improve care
because information can improve care.
Where information is missing, mistakes happen.
One of the most common causes of medical errors
is that the person at the bedside didn't know something.
And we've really got to get past that.
That's one of the biggest potentials of health IT.
Ask your doctor, you know.
Patients in general should ask their doctor,
"Can I look at my medical record online?"
And if the answer today is, "No,"
ask, "How soon will I be able to?"
We commonly hear that a lot of doctors
think patients don't want to do this, so let your doctor know.
One of the great potentials of health IT
is the potential to lead to innovation in health care.
Health IT can improve care,
because the ability to deliver great care depends entirely
on having the necessary information
at the point and at the moment where you're delivering care.