Shared vision for health

Health systems should be recording and sharing successful health outcomes - because success breeds success - and because when the path to success is shortened, people suffer less, and productivity from the same limited health resources is enhanced.

Premise

When you want to achieve success in any field the first thing you do is research how others have achieved success.

In the standard western medical system, successes and failures should be recorded and shared within a framework - alternately referred to as Evidence-based or Outcome-based Medicine - with the primary goal being the application of best long-term practice in diagnosis, patient care, and treatment outcomes.

Such a framework has obvious merits but historically, the patient's perspective hasn't been sought and included as corroborating evidence. Typically, the health system;

1. doesn't place sufficient value on confirming success or failure via the patient perspective, and;
2. doesn't record or recognize success or failure when or if it occurs outside the standard medical system.

Who is in the best position to provide evidence of health success or failure? Arguably, it's the patient.
 
Advocacy

The Case Health online database was created to fill this gap in the health system, and advocate the value of patient testimony. I encourage individuals to freely share information on health success in the hope of making the path to health success shorter and less stressful for others.

The website collects and shares health success stories (personal or research) through an online database. Keywords are attributed to each story and this framework serves a dual purpose:

The database can be searched by symptom, condition, or treatment so patients can discuss what they've found with their doctor. The database also collects significant research findings, so analysts can gain 'insights' into cause and effect and develop theories for curiosity-driven research, or gain insight into public health statistics, benefits, or risks.

There are many ways people can contribute to their communities but most haven't considered information as one of those ways. They can help improve another person's health by sharing detailed information on how they achieved their own health success - and if they do that they contribute something more valuable than cash to their community.

Optimum health is a universal goal.  Challenges and resources differ between countries - but we are all human and we all share the same desire - to acquire and employ knowledge that results in the least invasive and least expensive path to optimum health.