Members Only
Member Dashboard

Search APHA Blog

Search

advocate best practices

Filling the Gap Changes Everything for Your Patient

5 minutes of reading / 1 Comment / By /

(Note: June 2016 – this post is now more than 3 years old. See an update below.) In the category of “life imitates career”…. In 8+ years of blogging, and with the exception of the personal experience that was the impetus for my career as Every Patient’s Advocate, (later the founder of AdvoConnection and the Alliance of Professional Health Advocates), I have rarely (if ever?) shared my personal medical experiences. Truth is, until now, they have been, thankfully, quite boring and not worth writing about. Yes, until now… because now, “the lump” has returned. Lump #1, discovered, excised, misdiagnosed as […]

Filling the Gap Changes Everything for Your Patient Continue Reading

The VITAL Piece of Information the Press – and Many Patients AND Advocates – Are Missing

5 minutes of reading / 8 Comments / By /

It happened one more time this week, frustrating me one more time this week, making me feel like a broken record again this week and then realizing…. hey! Why not make this point louder and clearer enough so that YOU can all be a part of my “point well spoken” army! What am I talking about? The press – which has produced one more article this week about this “new career” of patient advocacy or navigation, making it sound like a grand dream come true for anyone who cares about helping patients. None of these articles have been realistic about

The VITAL Piece of Information the Press – and Many Patients AND Advocates – Are Missing Continue Reading

An Advocate’s Allegiance Makes All the Difference

4 minutes of reading / 4 Comments / By /

Just in the past week alone, I’ve been asked three times why someone would hire a private patient advocate when there are so many other forms of help available. What other forms would those be? A variety: hospital patients can call on the hospital’s patient advocate for help cancer patients find navigators to help them through treatment insurance customers can call their customer service rep, or even an insurance company patient advocate a newly diagnosed patient can often find that large disease advocacy organizations, like the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or the American Diabetes Association, will provide an advocate to

An Advocate’s Allegiance Makes All the Difference Continue Reading

If I Could File a Lawsuit, I Would

5 minutes of reading / 2 Comments / By /

I’m really angry at the investment firm Morgan Stanley – really angry. I have had to deal with them since my father died, trying to manage and move a small IRA my sisters and I inherited, and they have done their utmost to make that impossible. I’ve told the story at my About.com blog because the bottom line is – if there was such a thing as a financial services advocate, I would hire him or her. That’s a great lesson for patients, with similar concepts applied to their medical care, and will hopefully make some of your phones ring,

If I Could File a Lawsuit, I Would Continue Reading

Holiday Hospital Dangers Spell HERO for Patient Advocates

4 minutes of reading / 1 Comment / By /

There is no time like the present to keep your clients out of the hospital. Just raising the issue may make you a hero to them. I realize how dramatic that sounds, but bear with me here. Think about any workplace you’ve ever worked in during the holidays. Employees, even customers, are not nearly as focused on the work-at-hand as they are during non-holiday times. They may be taking sick days or personal days off (shopping and baking take precedence!), they may be leaving work early to see their kids in the Holiday Concert at school. They may be laughing

Holiday Hospital Dangers Spell HERO for Patient Advocates Continue Reading

A New Tool for Choosing Providers – and You Can Help

3 minutes of reading / 1 Comment / By /

If you aren’t aware of the Society for Participatory Medicine, you should be. The organization’s membership is comprised of people who work or seek healthcare who promote participation, collaboration, cooperation and empowerment of all parties involved in the practice of medicine. Yes – people like us. You may be more familiar with the group if I tell you that the “e-patient” movement started with the SPM. Importantly – members include patients, caregivers and others who are not necessarily traditional participants – and yes, advocates. It truly lives up to its name: PARTICIPATORY. We, as advocates, are too keenly aware that

A New Tool for Choosing Providers – and You Can Help Continue Reading

Professionalism Ratchets Up a Notch at the 2012 NAHAC Conference

2 minutes of reading / 2 Comments / By /

While Superstorm Sandy made an attempt to put the kibosh on this year’s NAHAC Conference (National Association of Health Advocacy Consultants), she could not dampen the spirits, nor the passion or professionalism of this year’s gathering. … proving, once again, that you can’t slow down this advocacy freight train. While I understand that a handful of folks didn’t make the trip (some from storm-torn areas), the crowd was almost as large as it might have been if no storm ever tried to stand in the way. As it turned out, at least a half-dozen folks from the NYC / NJ

Professionalism Ratchets Up a Notch at the 2012 NAHAC Conference Continue Reading

APHA Blog : The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates →←
Scroll to Top