Two points I would like to reinforce:

• every patient with a chronic or life-threatening condition is a member of an online community – they just need to join
• social media sites are become a routine source of information on managing one’s disease and engaging one’s physician.

The members of the Society for Participatory Medicine are taking the lead in this area. To read a more extensive treatment, read the e-Patient Whitepaper and the works of Susanna Fox, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn and others. This movement is very dynamic and making strides into the practice of medicine.

This opinion piece was inspired by attending TEDxMaastricht – the videos tell the story of how social media technology is enabling participatory medicine.