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

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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

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What Does It Take to Be an Overnight Success?

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If I could wave a magic wand… …  and any potential private, independent patient advocate who reached out to me for support in getting his or her practice up, running, and successful would be just that – an overnight success! Well, OK. Maybe not. Hear me out… In the past few weeks, in my usual email or phone exchanges with dozens of patient advocates, there have been recurring themes. See if any of these sound familiar: Business is picking up, but I really could use more. Business is slower than I would like. I’m not sure how long I can

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“In the Mood” – How Glenn Miller, Johnny Mercer and the Andrews Sisters Helped Dad Weather His Pain

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I’ve just returned from Florida, having spent almost two weeks with my sisters, taking care of details since Dad died. There were plenty of tears – of course. But even more, there was laughter! Because despite our mourning, we shared many marvelous family memories as we uncovered this treasure (good grief – our grade school report cards!) or that one (did we really wear our hair like that in the 80s?) And of course, there were the conversations. Quite surprising, more than 100 people  attended Dad’s memorial service. It was a memorial service like few others – exactly what Dad

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Don’t Let Your Cause Be the Cause of Lost Business

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With the national presidential conventions behind us, and particularly if you live in a swing state, you know that the political campaigning, dressed as attacks and vitriol, is only revving up (as if it can get any worse?) This presidential election will be the first one that social media – like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter – will be used by the mainstream to share opinions and information. Possibly for the first time, you’re going to learn what your friends and followers, and those you follow, think about which candidate – and why. You’re going to learn more about them than

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The Health Advocate’s Olympics

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Like many of you, I have been glued to the Olympics for more than a week. I stay up very late every night (and have to drag myself out of bed in the morning!) to watch athletes who can twist or turn or propel their bodies in ways that seem practically inhuman. A mix of awe, pride, respect and, when it comes to Chinese badminton players, incredulity. Watching the athletes and the competitions, I realized there are some metaphorical similarities between what they do, and what we, the pioneers of the profession of private health advocacy, are working to accomplish,

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