Connecting the Dots: Reflections on 2012

In 2012 a man with prosthetics ran in the Olympics, we landed a vehicle on Mars and someone jumped from the edge of space.  It was a year of truly amazing scientific advances.  

Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”  As I look back on some of the ‘dots’ I can see a pattern of evolution and discovery surrounding personal controlled health information percolating among health technology innovators.   I see momentum growing and I believe we are on the verge of meaningful access to our personal health information.  This movement will empower us to measurably improve our health and provide evidence of the benefits of collaboration between healthcare systems and healthcare consumers.

Here are my top 7 DOTS from 2012. 

1. Dave deBronkart (US) @ePatientDave is the original epatient passionately promoting the most underutilized resource in healthcare, the patient and he should know, he beat the odds and is alive today to tell his story.  Dave deBronkart: Meet e-Patient Dave Dave did it, you can do it too, just say Gimme my Dam Data.
2. Salvatore Iaconesi (Italy) @xdxd_vs_xdxd  - 39 year old Salvatore Iaconesi lives with with terminal brain cancer (an “unwanted passenger” in his body) and wants to transform the meaning of the word "cure” and the role of knowledge. He cracked the codes to his clinical records on September 10^th and posted them online inviting the world to respond to his CT scans, MRIs, lab notes and glioma diagnosis in whatever way they want.  Salvatore also spoke at TEDx in Rome The Cure where he explained how he took the hundreds of thousands of responses to build his personal strategy to combat his brain cancer. 
3. Richard Van As and Ivan Owen (South Africa & US)  – a year ago Richard lost 4 fingers from his right hand, around the same time, Ivan created a mechanical hand that could be worn and operated by a person’s actual hand.  Richard lives in South Africa and was searching the internet for a solution to his health issue and Ivan lives in the US and posted a video of his mechanical hand on YouTube.  The internet brought them together and for almost a year, the two have been engaged in an online collaboration to equip Richard with a prosthetic hand.  You can read about their story here Coming up Shorthanded.  
4. John Wilbanks (US)@23andme - John is a genome adventurer, his work on Pooling our Medical Data includes accessing his genome through 23 and Me and publishing it online to learn even more through international genome researchers and analysts.
5. Brian Goldman, MD (Canada) @cbcwhitecoat – ER doctor and host of CBC Radios White Coat Black Art.  His weekly show provides an important perspective of the healthcare system in Canada.
6. Berci Meski, MD (Hungary) @Berci – Medical doctor with PhD in genomics, his tweets are always informative and forward thinking with an eye on how technology can advance medicine.
7. Andrew Spong (UK) @andrewspong – with a focus on health communications Andrew circulates a wealth of information on patient-centred care.

There are many more inspirational people out there working to improve access to personal health information.  The movement is growing in strength, what will 2013 bring? 

All the best for a happy, healthy year. 

Fainting Goat