In this episode, host Shikha Jain, MD, speaks with the Patient Empowerment Network’s Tracy Rode about providing patients with tools for advocacy, developing accessible patient resources and more.

•    Welcome to another exciting episode of Oncology Overdrive 1:11
•    About Rode 1:23
•    The interview 2:34
•    Can you tell us about your journey and how you ended up in this space as such a strong voice for patient advocates? 2:52
•    Tell me more about Patient Empowerment Network (PEN), what it does for patients and what it does for health care workers 9:06
•    Jain and Rode on how health care workers can improve ways to communicate information to patients in ways they can absorb 14:03
•    How do you suggest patients and physicians use the resources provided by organizations like PEN? What is the best way to incorporate education into a clinical visit? 19:06
•    Rode and Jain on examples of how much easier it is today for patients to come across misinformation in media, and how organizations can help patients avoid this misinformation 21:50
•    Jain and Rode on patient accessibility and benefits to understanding clinical trials 26:35
•    Can you share how your cancer diagnosis impacted the way you transitioned into thinking about patient advocacy issues and your approach to them? 29:13
•    If someone could only listen to the last two minutes of this episode, what would you want them to take away? 31:35
•    How to contact Rode 34:13
•    Thanks for listening 35:20

Tracy Rode is the executive director of the Patient Empowerment Network (PEN). Rode brings over two decades of non-profit leadership experience, including working with diverse patient populations to improve patient outcomes and increase access to care.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Jain at oncologyoverdrive@healio.com. Follow Healio on Twitter and LinkedIn: @HemOncToday and https://www.linkedin.com/company/hemonctoday/. Follow Dr. Jain on Twitter: @ShikhaJainMD. Rode and the Patient Empowerment Network can be reached at powerfulpatients.org, or via LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter @power4patients.

Disclosures: Jain and Rode report no relevant financial disclosures.