Patient engagement, patient empowerment, patient centered. The buzzwords have been around for a while, but with technology now catching up to the concept, the notion of patients as full participants may help revolutionize health care.

It’s also not just a feel-good fantasy or the strident call of activist patients; when people become actively involved in their health, and are given the tools to manage their care, outcomes go up and costs go down. A 2013 Fairview Health Services study of 30,000 patients found that engaged patients had health care costs 8 percent lower in the base year and 21 percent lower in the following year. A study by David Veroff and colleagues found that patients involved in shared decision-making for their health had 12.5 percent fewer hospital admissions.

At HealthBeat, leading experts on the cusp of patient empowerment come together to explore how the revolution in patient engagement is unfolding.

Ryan Howard, Keynote Speaker, Practice Fusion speaks about the power of data to manage a patient’s entire health journey — while at the same time empowering patients to use data for far better control over their own health.

John Moore, Twine Health and Rushika Fernandopulle, Iora Health talk about the concept of patient as apprentice that show a 3x improvement over the standard of care in hypertension management.

Ramin Bastani, Healthvana talks about his work with apps that tackle very sensitive and personal data such as transmitting results of sexually transmitted disease that are reaching those who would otherwise avoid learning their status.

Dr. Phillip Marshall, Conversa Health and Dr. Cynthia Ferrier, Greenfield Health discuss Conversa’s Digital Checkup platform and its effectiveness in identifying patients who are going off-track with their treatment program and ways to bring them back with patient-reported health data.

Jen Hyatt, Big White Wall speaks about how the innovative online, clinician-supported community breaks the silence of those dealing with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts and gives them the power to manage their mental health.

AARP Breakout Session explores empowering patients over 50 through data, apps and innovation at a time when chronic disease will explode with a quickly-advancing aging population.

You can see the full agenda of HealthBeat here. Taking place October 27-28, the conference features some of the most innovative companies working in health technology today. Register here to save your spot.


Thanks to the following industry leaders for supporting HealthBeat 2014: AARP as Gold Partner; CareCloud, Nexercise, Norwest Venture Partners, California HealthCare Foundation, ON24, and Altosoft as Event Partners; and Twine Health as a Nest Partner.