Before DeeAnna Nagel began practicing online therapy, and before she co-founded the Online Therapy Institute, she was a patient, and an e-patient. In early 2000, she was nearly incapacitated with a mysterious lung disease. Her medical journey took her from specialist to specialist, each baffled about her symptoms, while she got sicker and sicker. She discovered an online forum for lung disorders, where she found a disease that matched her symptoms and information about the tests that would prove it. She went to her doctor and explained what tests she wanted and what disease they were testing for. Her doctor was skeptical and patronizing, but did the tests, which confirmed the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Ms. Nagel had found through the online forum.
This article first appeared in the Spring 2013 issue of TILT Magazine ~ Therapeutic Innovations in Light of Technology.
Click here to read the entire PDF version of the Online Therapy and Patient Engagement article.
Jan Oldenburg is the primary editor of HIMSS’ Engage! Transforming Healthcare through Digital Patient Engagement (2013) and is Vice President, Patient Engagement in Accountable care Solutions from Aetna. Read an interview with Jan about the book here!
Access TILT Magazine archives: http://issuu.com/onlinetherapyinstitute/docs
