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Aetna’s Jess Jacobs steps over privacy boundaries to share her story from the hospital via Twitter

Jess Jacobs, the Director with Aetna’s Innovation Labs, is in the hospital dealing with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). But she’s not M.I.A. due to her condition. She’s taken the opportunity to demonstrate that while privacy is a concern with patients and with medical care in many ways, there’s definite value that can come from being […]

By Nicole Oran on March 16, 2015

Jess Jacobs, the Director with Aetna’s Innovation Labs, is in the hospital dealing with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). But she’s not M.I.A. due to her condition. She’s taken the opportunity to demonstrate that while privacy is a concern with patients and with medical care in many ways, there’s definite value that can come from being vocal and sharing about her experience – and social media can be an optimal way to do that.

An increasing number of healthcare professionals have been sharing their patient stories publicly and it’s offering the industry a more personal and deeper understanding of what healthcare consumers go through every day.

Jacobs, who we’ve written about before, has been sharing her patient journey for some time. But this social feed is authentic about this process – she’s also sharing her dry sense of humor and astute hospital-inspired anecdotes.

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— Jess Jacobs (@jess_jacobs) March 14, 2015

Jacobs’ willingness to share about her experience is inspiring others, too.

In addition to her work with Aetna, Jacobs’ previously co-founded the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s Health IT Council, wrote the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Text4baby promotional plan and helped lay the groundwork for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) Investing in Innovations initiative.