E-Patient Dave

e-Patient Dave is a cancer survivor from 2006. Hey had stage 4 Kidney cancer and was able to beat it using a dangerous drug that could have killed him. e-Patient Dave relied on a network of other cancer victims over the internet to research and discover the dangerous but effective treatment.

e-Patient Dave spoke today as our keynote speaker. His message to the medical community is that the future heathcare is the empowerment of the patient. He claims that healthcare is better off having multidirectional communications among healthcare professionals, patients and their friends/families.

Dave gave numerous examples of patients who took their own healthcare into their own hands. In some cases they became partners with their doctors and help provide additional data and research. In other cases, patients went behind their doctors back and were able to find solutions through relentless research and work.

e-Patient daves message to everyone at the conference today is that the future in healthcare is the patient. We should not view patients as unqualified and therefore unable to contribute. Instead, doctors should see them as resources and a partner. He himself is an example of this being exactly the case.