A Tribute to Casey Quinlan – Advocate and Renaissance Woman

On Tuesday April 25th 2023, the world lost a bright flame. After a long journey with cancer, Casey Quinlan @MightyCasey passed away peacefully with family and friends by her side. Quinlan was one-of-a-kind and if you had the good fortune of meeting her in-person or interacted with her online, she undoubtedly left an impression. She was one of the few people who had zero qualms about speaking her mind – and that is one of reasons why I admired her.

Outspoken Advocate

I got to know Quinlan through the early #hcldr tweetchats that we hosted (and still host) on Tuesday nights at 8:30pm ET. At the time, I had never seen someone who was so forthright and direct when expressing healthcare opinions. No matter the topic, Quinlan had piercing insights to share.

Here is one of her first tweets on the #hcldr tweetchat (and emblematic of Quinlan’s persona):

Quinlan was an outspoken advocate for better healthcare. She advocated for many improvements including: more patient involvement in care decisions, improved access to data, better privacy protection, more accountability from providers/payers/employers, medication affordability, and more patient-led innovation. She was a true believer in the phrase: “Nothing about me without me”.

Quinlan never minced words and was almost always spot-on in her assessment of the situation. I will never forget sitting beside her in breakout sessions and hearing her both heckle the presenter when they made incorrect/inane statements and praise them when they said something insightful. She definitely leaned into her reputation as a “loud-mouth”…and those of us who knew her, loved her for it.

The QR Code

In addition to her strong advocacy and speaking-truth-to-power, Quinlan was well known for the tattoo of QR code on her chest. That QR code was linked to a website where she had documented her medical history and her advanced directives. You can read more about why she did it here: Why I got a QR code tattooed on my sternum

The tattoo was quintessential Quinlan. With it, she took the power away from healthcare institutions and placed it firmly where she believed it should be – with herself as a patient. Her QR code was a not-so-subtle way to stick it to the entire healthcare ecosystem that was too slow and too disinterested in solving access problems for patients.

You can see the QR code in this photo from 2015.

Renaissance Woman

My most vivid memory of Quinlan comes from 2015 when I first met her in-person. We both attended Regina Holliday’s Cinderblocks event in rural PA. It felt like meeting an old high-school friend. I was immediately fascinated by all of her stories about her past.

Over lunches and dinners, I learned that she was a comedian, a journalist, a filmmaker, an editor, an artist, and an activist. I remember sitting down with her at a local restaurant and listening to her stories until we closed the place. We snacked on olives and cheese the entire time. I think it is fitting that whenever I think of Quinlan my mind immediately goes back to this quiet moment when she was sharing her stories.

Quinlan’s Legacy

Quinlan was an inspiration to so many amazing people. She may be gone, but her legacy lives on in those she affected. She taught us that it’s okay to speak up and be heard. She showed us that speaking from the heart was always the right thing to do. She personified living out loud.

I will miss her dearly.

Below is a small selection of the tributes that have been pouring in online for Casey Quinlan.

Shout-out to Jan Oldenburg

A huge shout-out to Jan Oldenburg @janoldenburg who was one of Casey’s caregivers over the past several months. She helped Casey get her affairs in order and kept everyone updated with near daily updates. Thank you Jan for being there for Casey.

About the author

Colin Hung

Colin Hung is the co-founder of the #hcldr (healthcare leadership) tweetchat one of the most popular and active healthcare social media communities on Twitter. Colin speaks, tweets and blogs regularly about healthcare, technology, marketing and leadership. He is currently an independent marketing consultant working with leading healthIT companies. Colin is a member of #TheWalkingGallery. His Twitter handle is: @Colin_Hung.

   

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