From Family to Frankly Speaking to Patient Centricity

It sure has been a busy week for me. We returned home from seeing my daughter and her family in Kansas early in week. It was great attending my son-on-law's change of command ceremony

and being able to spend time playing and reading to my grandson. They will be moving in two weeks to California for Andy's next assignment.  I thrilled that I will be able to visit them in sunny California later in the year.

Then I jumped right back into  my role as a survivor and advocate. On Wednesday,  the Cancer Support Community - Central New Jersey invited my gyn-onc,Dr Gibbon to present a noontime Frankly Speaking about Gynecologic Cancers presentation. There were about a dozen women in the audience so it was very easy for it to be more of a chat with questions and answers than a lecture. Dr G did a great job making the science of ovarian cancer and it's treatments understandable. Some of the topics she spoke about were risk factors, current treatments, genetic testing, precision medicine, vaccine therapy and parp inhibitors. 

Thursday I spent time prepping for my participation at the 10th Annual Patient Summit USA 2013. I was invited by Wego Health to be part of a panel discussing patient centricity. 

The Summit day arrived on Friday.  I drove the hour into Philadelphia to the  Hilton and was able to attend the morning sessions which included talks on understanding your patient as the end-user, proving the value of patient programs and an excellent presentation by Emily Freeman, Pfizer on Shared Treatment Decision Making(STD). STD brings the patient on an equal standing to the physician regarding treatment for chronic illnesses. Then a bit of deja vu occurred when Walter Berghahn spoke about supply chain safety with a focus on drug packaging. ( I worked in packaging for a number of years.) He highlighted ways to achieve better patient adherence. 

At lunch I met up with the Wego Health team and health activists. I am in awe of the advocacy work and endevours of these activists. Then it was time to take the stage with Melissa Barnhardt, Wego Health, Tiffany Westrich an autoimmune rheumetoid arthritis activist ( www.iaamovement.org)  and Scott Benner a diabetes activist (www.ardensday.org). 

I offered the following recommendations to the audience from the pharmaceutical industry:

• Patient centricity is about treating the whole person not just the disease.
• Speak to patients in laymen's terms.
• Use infographics to explain information and processes
• Reach out to Advocacy groups to diseminate information.

I am so pleased to have been a part of the movement to give patients a voice. Thank you Wego Health.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!