patient advocacy

Spring Cleaning

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If only my closets, cupboards and drawers were as cleaned out as the AdvoConnection websites are today! AC Members know that during the weekend, we moved – moved servers that is. Moved the 3,910 files that comprise the two websites (membership site and directory site) from one hosting server to another – a major undertaking. Moved the gigantic database that contains all the information about members, visitors, services, locations, explanations – all of it. Moved the zip/postal code database that helps patients and caregivers find our members, ready to help them with their healthcare system challenges. (Here’s a statistic for […]

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Just Who Is Making Your Clients’ Medical Decisions?

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A 58-year old man learns he has early stage prostate cancer. His urologist suggests he wait for a few months so they can test him again, then decide whether he needs treatment. But the man decides to get a second opinion to find a doctor who will treat him, because he just wants that cancer gone. It doesn’t take him long to find a doctor willing to treat him as much as he’d like to be treated. An 85-year old woman with diabetes has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her doctor tells her she needs surgery to remove her breast,

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Quick! Pre-Paid Access to a Health Advocate

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You know the problem: clients contact you at the point they are desperate, or almost desperate. They’ve received a massive hospital bill – or worse – they received one months ago and haven’t begun to deal with it yet. OR, adult son lives on the west coast, elderly mom lives on the east coast… she has just fallen, is hospitalized, and son is lost, having no idea what to do next. (Fill in your own desperation story here: ___________________) These folks often find AdvoConnection.com and do a search for a patient advocate. Yet, despite their desperation, a recent informal survey

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Client Discussions: Where Do Spirituality and Religion Come In?

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My travels over the past two weeks have ultimately taken me to Florida where I’ll be staying for awhile to spend time with my dad. It’s the latest in many, many visits, which I mention only because that means I have gotten to know many of Dad’s friends over the years, too. In fact, I’ve gotten to know a handful of them very well, so that I actually seek them out once I get here to be sure I have the opportunity to spend some time with them. One such friend is a gentleman I’ll call Jim, who lives next

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Getting Your Clients Past Magical Thinking

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image - magical thinking

Today’s post is very personal, reflecting a situation I believe many families go through, brought on by any number of attitudes and fears. I’m hoping that by sharing it, you can find a role for your advocacy work; a way to help families who need someone to provide a reality check. It’s about providing a gift to some of your patients and their families – in effect, giving them permission to say no to further treatment. As I thought about the situation, I remembered back many years ago when my mother, who at the time was in her 10th year

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What’s a Bad Outcome? And Where Does the Fault Lie?

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Scenario: Joan, age 75, living in Ft. Lauderdale, was diagnosed with Stage IV Ovarian Cancer. Joan’s daughter, Beth, who lives in Kansas, contacts Maxine, a private patient advocate and RN who works in Ft. Lauderdale, to help her mother. Joan, Beth and Maxine have extensive conversations about the care Joan will need. The decision is made that Joan will need surgery and chemo. Maxine is hired to oversee the care since Beth lives so far away. The surgery goes well. The hospital stay is typical. Joan is discharged from the hospital, but three days later begins to show signs of

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Just How Many Patient Advocates Are There?

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One of our AdvoConnection members asked me the question a few weeks ago: How many patient advocates do I think there are? I’ve got some educated guesses. But there are actually three parts to the question. Just trying to figure out how many there are is only the first part. Figuring out the trends is also important. And figuring out who can actually help patients in the ways they need help is the other. Here are the answers I gave her. See what you think. Add or subtract. Change direction. Whatever you think…. because you and your role are found

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