advocacy business

The Affordable Care Act / Obamacare Defines Perfect Roles for Private Professional Patient Advocates

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The healthcare reform law called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – or Obamacare if you prefer the moniker (preferences seem to run about 50/50) – is being implemented over time. Of course, as most of us realize, the major portion described as the individual mandate, kicks in January 1, 2014 – only a few months from now. No matter how you feel about the legislation for your personal situation, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with the aspects of the law that define excellent roles for health advocates, no matter what type of advocacy they practice – medical …

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Amy Vanderbilt, Emily Post, and My Mother Are Turning Over in Their Graves

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Updated 8/2019* I suspect you were raised just like I was. As a polite young lady, one who knew and followed the rules of etiquette (a l those mavens of etiquette, Amy Vanderbilt and Emily Post), I was taught never to toot my own horn. Bragging about accomplishments just isn’t polite. Let someone else recognize your achievements, and if they mention them to you, just blush, and politely deflect. Do your best not to take credit, and certainly don’t make it sound like you’re proud of what you’ve done….as in “What, this old thing?…) (Unless, of course, you are male. …

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Playing Favorites

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If you’re a parent, you know you’ve been asked this question: Which of your children is your favorite? Of course, there’s no way to answer that question! Because even if you have a favorite, you’d never fess up! As a parent, you do your utmost to be fair and equitable…. (We all know who our OWN parents’ favorite child is/was. My sister was my mother’s favorite. She was sweet, and quiet, and well behaved. And I was… well… not.) This week I was contacted with two different requests for referrals to APHA members, which means I am expected to pick …

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What Do Insurance and Success Strategies Have in Common?

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I know. Those two terms – insurance and success strategies – rarely show up in the same sentence in the patient advocate world, right? So bear with me. I follow a company called IDEO on Twitter. @IDEO is a creative think-tank which credits its enormous success to its corporate values. When IDEO talks, those-in-the-know listen. Recently IDEO’s CEO, Tim Brown, shared a marvelous lesson, and it’s particularly useful for advocates. The reason this particular lesson is so appropriate for us is because there are so few of us, and because we are all striving to create success by building a …

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Mid-Year Resolution Check Up – What Have You Accomplished?

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At the mid-year point, past the July 4th holiday…. time to take stock. All those resolutions I made on January 1 – how have I done? How many have I checked off my list? True confession time: I have NOT lost all that weight I was planning to lose this year, nor have I quit smoking (well, seriously – I never started so I didn’t really have to quit anyway). I’m not saving any more money this year than last, and I haven’t read the Bible or War And Peace. Yikes. Time to get a move-on. OK – your turn. …

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What Private Patient Advocates Can Learn from Paula Deen*

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Hey y’all! If someone had asked you on the June 20, 2013 to describe Paula Deen, you might have described her as a bubbly, vivacious, popular Food Network star, author, well-merchandised cook or chef. Whether or not you liked her, and no matter what you thought of her approach to food, you at least had to admire her empire and popularity. Over the next week, her empire collapsed, seemingly because she fessed up to using the N-word during a lawsuit deposition.* The bigger they are, the harder they fall. It makes no difference whether or not Deen’s fall was fair …

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We Get By With a Little Help from Our Friends

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(Can’t you just hear Ringo in your ear? and yes, if you understand that reference, you’re dating yourself!) This week I was reminded several times about all the folks who are trying to develop their patient advocacy practices on their own, thinking they need to conquer it all by themselves. They don’t. They shouldn’t. And they run the risk of failing in business until they start thinking differently. Here’s why: Patient Advocacy is a time-intensive, hands-on undertaking. Each client needs a great deal of attention, usually immediately. Yet time isn’t something we can find more of; there are still only …

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