{"id":25719,"date":"2013-04-16T13:52:04","date_gmt":"2013-04-16T12:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=25719"},"modified":"2013-04-16T13:52:04","modified_gmt":"2013-04-16T12:52:04","slug":"pritpal-s-tamber-and-so-its-time-for-tedmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stg-blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2013\/04\/16\/pritpal-s-tamber-and-so-its-time-for-tedmed\/","title":{"rendered":"Pritpal S Tamber: And so, it\u2019s time for TEDMED"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Regular readers of my blog will know that this week is TEDMED<\/a>, the US based event that looks\u2014with a multidisciplinary lens\u2014at the future of health and medicine. I\u2019m TEDMED\u2019s clinical editor, one of the four person core editorial team that recommends topics and speakers to the curator, the ever curious Jay Walker. I thought I\u2019d use my Heathrow-to-Dulles time to reflect on some of the themes of the programme that we\u2019ve put together. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with an obvious one: big data. I have bemoaned<\/a> the overuse of this term in the past but our focus is less on the bombastic (ie poorly thought through) and more on the societal shifts that will be needed to create truly valuable knowledge. We\u2019re generating data all the time, but where is it? How do we get to it<\/a>? And if we believe that pooling our data can create valuable insights, how do we make that happen<\/a>? I\u2019m sure that one of our speakers will ask yet again whose data is it anyway, an echo of a thought I heard perhaps a decade ago, but was beautifully stated as a civil rights issue<\/a> at last year\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

Power is a theme close to my heart (so much so that I have been convinced to do a talk<\/a>). The days of monolithic decision makers presiding over the future are rightly ending thanks to how the internet has made it possible for more people to see and question information. But it\u2019s not all about the internet. Communities are self organising<\/a>, taking back the right to define their existence, a right (perhaps) unintentionally taken from them by the drive to make life cheaper. One speaker<\/a>, notably from the commercial sector, will consider the impact of healthcare\u2019s business model on the desire to do good. There will even be reflections on the assumptions we make<\/a> when we shape knowledge, given that \u201cknowledge is power.\u201d<\/p>\n

As befits an event that hopes to stimulate new thinking (see my previous post<\/a> to understand TEDMED\u2019s aims), we\u2019ll be inviting the community to consider<\/a> whether the two step model of wellness and illness is all there is to it. And while we\u2019re questioning things in two we\u2019ll consider whether it\u2019s really only about care givers and care receivers; is there a third community<\/a> we\u2019re not seeing?<\/p>\n

Seeing, or not, is a theme for a session in which we explore whether how we approach things limits our ability to understand them. We\u2019ll see a new way to image the heart<\/a> made possible by super computing. And, less literally, we\u2019ll consider whether there is more to the consultation<\/a> than just \u201cseeing\u201d a patient. We\u2019ll even ask whether how we see Phase III trials<\/a> is limiting our ability to unlock the potential of existing treatments.<\/p>\n

So much of healthcare is about communication. I always like to remind people that communication is not what is said, but what is received. In healthcare we\u2019ve known for some time that any meaningful impact on health will come from better societal organisation, but does that really get through to those in charge of organising society, the politicians. We\u2019ll hear from one speaker who heard loud and clear<\/a>. On a more micro level, one speaker will also ask whether we even know what the language of healthcare is<\/a>\u2014quite a fundamental question in an industry with communication at its core.<\/p>\n

Technology seems to evolve faster and faster these days and one speaker will describe how they\u2019re imaging the future<\/a> while they\u2019re still dreaming up the tools to create it\u2014and how they\u2019ve secured some pretty serious funding and endorsement to go on that journey. Another<\/a> will ask the community whether it really makes sense for the medical profession to try to define the future of healthcare when it\u2019s really not shaped to cope with onslaught of change. And staying with \u201ccoping\u201d one speaker will ask whether the profession is coping at all, or whether it\u2019s time to look in the mirror and have a rethink<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most of these issues are huge. Many would be the subjects of weeklong conferences. At TEDMED, we intentionally set out to give the community a \u201cTED ache,\u201d to make their heads hurt with so many great topics and insights. The aim is to get a conversation going, to stimulate creativity, to seed new and unexpected collaborations.<\/p>\n

As I said<\/a> when I first joined TEDMED, \u201cI hope that we\u2019ll catalyse courageous reinvention, big ideas, and new thinking.\u201d And I hope that you enjoy the fruits of our labour, whether you\u2019re at the event, at one of the simulcast<\/a> locations in 80 countries, or watching after the event online. We look forward to getting your feedback.<\/p>\n

And so, without further ado, it\u2019s time for TEDMED\u2026<\/p>\n

TEDMED is at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, USA, from Tuesday April 16th until Friday April 19th.<\/em><\/p>\n

Competing interests: I am a paid consultant to TEDMED.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pritpal S Tamber<\/a> is the director of Optimising Clinical Knowledge<\/a>, a consultancy that helps organisations in and around healthcare design clinically credible strategies that have a measurable impact on care. Follow him on Twitter, @pstamber<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regular readers of my blog will know that this week is TEDMED, the US based event that looks\u2014with a multidisciplinary lens\u2014at the future of health and medicine. I\u2019m TEDMED\u2019s clinical editor, one of the four person core editorial team that recommends topics and speakers to the curator, the ever curious Jay Walker. I thought I\u2019d […]<\/p>\n

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