Eric Dishman, the director for health innovation and policy at Intel's Digital Health Group and a prominent and popular speaker at health IT conferences across the country (including HIMSS), is in need of a new kidney.

In an open letter published earlier this month, Dishman said he was diagnosed with "some rare kidney diseases" following his high school graduation in 1987, and had been undergoing decades of drug therapies in hopes of keeping his kidneys from failing until he was in his 70s or 80s. When those therapies failed, he was put on "the list" on May 11.

Dishman, 44, is seeking a generally healthy person with Type O blood (positive or negative) for a donor, and asks that anyone interested contact Margie Marksthaler, RN, the kidney donor coordinator at Legacy Transplant Services in Portland, Ore., to fill out a confidential questionnaire. She can be reached at 503-413-7349.

Dishman's letter detailing his plight and search for a new kidney can be found at http://obayley.com/eric/

Eric Wicklund blogs regularly at mHIMSS.org.