In April of this year, patient advocates convened in San Diego for the APHA Summits to mix and mingle, learn, and talk shop…
Joining us was the video crew from HBO’s Vice News, led by producer Amanda Pisetzner – a delightful group of young people, with so much talent and enthusiasm, asking great questions…
They worked in the background during our networking event, and separately they met with two of our advocates, AnnMarie McIlwain, and Karen Vogel, as they conducted their important work. The crew even met with client-patients who AnnMarie and Karen found were willing to discuss their own situations and results…
Bottom line – the most powerful public video we’ve seen, creating a very clear picture of the benefits of independent advocacy and why everyone needs an advocate.
We have arrived! (Note: if you attended the San Diego Summits – you might be in the video!)
I invite you to watch it – and then I’ll share a few steps you can take, too, not just to help boost your own practice, but perhaps to find yourself the featured advocate in a future media activity.
So what do you think?
I hope your reaction is WOW! How can I help? And how can I get involved in this great promotion of our profession?
There are several things you can do:
- Watch the entire video. Just click on the arrow
above. - Give the video a thumbs up. It helps promote both the video and the content.
- Read the comments. They will give you a good sense of how someone feels when they first hear about independent advocacy. The people you discuss it with will have similar reactions, and you’ll want to be prepared to answer concerns, or support their positive feelings.
- Comment yourself. And – here’s the first step toward helping your own practice – include a link to your own advocacy website! As long as the link is relevant, it’s allowed.
Finally – the most frequent question I have received…. how can YOU be included in these great media mentions?
AnnMarie and Karen were chosen to be included because they were responsive to Amanda / HBO Vice News when Amanda reached out to us at The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates. She sent us an email that described who and what she was looking for, and we posted that opportunity for all our APHA Premium Directory Listed members:
- If you are already a +ADL member of APHA (Premium, AdvoConnection Directory Listed), then subscribe to the +ADL Discussion Forum to receive notices as soon as they are posted. In just the last two weeks, we’ve had requests from CBS, the AP (Associated Press), and the Wall Street Journal. Or you can take a look at all our members’ media mentions here.
- If you are a member of APHA, but not yet +ADL, then step up! The extensive perks include these media requests. Log into your Dashboard and find a button on the right to upgrade your membership.
- If you are not yet a member of APHA, The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates, then join us! We’d love to have you be part of the excitement.
On behalf of The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates, and with true gratitude for the excellent job they did on this piece, I thank Amanda, her team, Karen and AnnMarie, and their clients, for helping us teach the value of independent patient advocates.
Thousands of other patients will get the help they need thanks to their efforts.
It just does not get better than that.
…………………….
The photo at the top of this page is a video screenshot of one client Karen has been working with, as featured in the HBO / Vice News video.
Oh – and the answer to another important question. Karen’s cat is named Randy. I understand he’s in talks with an agent. 😉
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