The Myth of the Poor Historian

Recently I was in D.C. at the Health Datapalooza conference giving a presentation on Pictal Health, the company I’ve been starting to help patients visualize their health journey so they can communicate better with their doctors. After I finished talking, someone stood up and asked, “are you worried about the quality of information that patients give you, since they’re known to be poor historians?”

I’ve gotten this question many times recently. And my answer is: no, I’m not worried about the quality of information I get from patients, and furthermore I don’t believe in poor historians. Let us discuss.