ABSTRACT
Dave deBronkart is the improbable hero of an improbable tale. His story both mirrors the trajectory of the participatory medicine movement and has helped create that same trajectory. He is best viewed, perhaps, as embodying the Zeitgeist of the 21st Century movement toward patient engagement and patient empowerment. Beth Israel Deaconess was using it, however, and was already planning to find out if Dave could qualify medically. Dave had two primary tumors, which had already erupted beyond the kidney. Tests in June showed that he was responding, so he had another round in July. Providers cannot practice at the top of their license without access to complete data—sometimes data that is held by patients. When Dave looks back on this improbable story, it feels as if all of the elements of his history and skills have come together to enable him to do this work at this time.
