Could Keeping Data Help Me Make Better Health Care Decisions?

I watched this Ted Talk last night and wanted to share it with all of you. This presentation is all about how the data we collect about ourselves, coupled with a key question, can help us get better results from our interactions with our doctors.

Ultimately, I want to partner with my doctors so that I get the benefit of their knowledge and they get the benefit of my knowledge. Seems like the best way to make good health care decisions. Unfortunately, when you present with multiple chronic pain conditions it can be hard to get doctors to take you seriously and even harder when you know more about your conditions than the average general practitioner.

Some doctors still don't really believe fibromyalgia is a real condition. Some doctors still don't understand that migraines are not due to vasodilation and that the symptoms stretch beyond the classic one-sided pain, nausea, and sensitivities.

Talithia Williams gives some great examples of how data has made a real impact on the health care decisions her family made and the kind of care they received. It got me thinking that perhaps I could increase my chances of being taken seriously by doctors, and ultimately make better decisions, by keeping more data on myself.

I already keep some migraine stats on myself but I think I might try to expand the data I'm keeping - see if that makes a difference.