"A stand can be made against an invasion by an enemy; no stand can be made against invasion by an idea" - Victor Hugo

In the earlier post we answered the question of what would Hippocrates do by suggesting that he would champion Open Medicine. What does this mean?

Information is power. When everyone has timely access to relevant information, the consumers get the best deal and the best providers benefit the most. We have seen this happen in stock trading. We have seen this in open source software. We have seen this in eBay and Amazon. We will soon see this happen in healthcare. Medical search engines, like Healthline could be a start, but are not enough.

Open Medicine means not being afraid of giving consumers the choice based on complete information and earning their trust in return. This means giving them control of the medical record, while observing the professional responsibilities. This means recognizing peer support groups as much as professional medical opinion, while making the distinction clear.

Achieving the ideal of Open Medicine in practice is a tall order. The way to get there is one step at a time. Blogging can help us get started.