Taking Patient-Centeredness to the Next Level at ACC.14

March 30th, 2014

Taking Patient-Centeredness to the Next Level at ACC.14

Kumar Dharmarajan, MD MBA

Several Cardiology fellows who are attending ACC.14 in Washington, D.C. this week are blogging for CardioExchange. The fellows include Kumar Dharmarajan, Seth Martin, and Saurav Chatterjee. For more of our ACC.14 coverage of late-breaking clinical trials, interviews with the authors of the most important research, and blogs from our fellows on the most interesting presentations at the meeting, check out our ACC.14 Headquarters.

A novel idea: a “patient” told his own story at the PM clinical focus session “Championing Care for Patients with Aortic Stenosis.” I use quotation marks because he really wasn’t a patient – he was a professional actor. Yet despite the tired eyes in the audience, he was able to connect sufficiently to make the case for shared decision-making when considering valve replacement.

My question: why don’t we do this more often at large conferences, especially when we operate in huge rooms with large physical distances to the speakers? As health providers, we’re already primed to connect with patients and their stories, more so I believe than to the usual behind-the-podium lecturers.

CardioExchange Archive

CardioExchange, an NEJM practice community for medical professionals dedicated to improving cardiac patient care, was active from 2009 to 2015. CardioExchange fostered discussion between clinicians from across the globe.

March 30th, 2014