It seems to me that all of this about “patient privacy” is more about shielding incompetent hospital administrators. (Ok, it is redundant to say “incompetent” and “administrators” in most situations – no matter the industry.)

Truthfully, in my mind, if enough anonymizing of information is done, there really is little difference between the average single patient case study and the blog entry about that patient except it is more accessible to the general public. This leads me to believe that this is more about information control than any “privacy” concerns. (Oh, and I have read “case studies.”)

The truth is, for the appropriate patient communities these blogs are 100x more educational than the official sites of WebMD or such. Why? Because people relate to individuals better than they do the so-called patient literature they are given. (Really written in a manner to prevent lawsuits.)

I also strongly believe that it helps dispell the myth of doctor as god. I think that that is something that must go away if you want people to stop insisting on expecting perfection. I belong to two patient communities at the moment, one that is used to doctors not getting it (food allergies) and one that has false expectations of the medical profession (infertility – don’t blog about this).

No one in the food allergy community has the idea that doctors know everything. The good doctors admit they don’t know everything. We (food allergy patients) don’t expect non-allergists / radiologists (aka super paranoid doctors) to always get it, we know, while wishing we didn’t, that the majority of medical professionals will never deal with a patient like us. (Under 1% of the population.)

Now, the infertility community is different. These men and women seem to think that the doctors are going to have the answer. That the doctor and his staff are always going to get it right. Um… doctors and their staffs are human beings just like everyone else. And the science in reproductive medicine is really very new. I sometimes feel like I’m the only person who understood the 30% chance we were given meant that 70% of the time there is failure – and often the doctors have no idea why.

Unfortunately, there are a number of doctors blogging (and practicing) who are affronted when their own fallible human nature is pointed out. They do serve a purpose in showing some naive patients that, guess what, the doctor is just like you except he knows more about medicine. He is an expert in his field just like you may be an expert in your field.

Blogging helps tear down that curtain where the wizard hides and that is a threat to some medical professionals and industries. Personally, I think it helps get people out of the “if he doesn’t get it right or makes a mistake, then he should be sued” mentality.

But, I’ve never related well to people who thought someone else had all the answers.

Pax,

MLO