Happy Birthday AdvoConnection! Will You Help Us Celebrate?

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Two years ago today, we launched AdvoConnection as the premier directory for patients and caregivers to find a health or patient advocate or navigator, and to support the business starting and growing efforts of advocates. Happy Birthday to Us! You might be interested in what this journey has looked like so far: > More than 270 people are advocate or pre-advocate members of AdvoConnection. Most are in the process of exploring advocacy as a career. > 12 non-profit patient advocacy organizations are registered with AdvoConnection. > More than 2,100 people visit the directory site each month in search of an …

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What Shall We Call Ourselves?

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I’ve just returned from a marvelous week visiting with, and participating in, patient empowerment and advocacy experiences that included activities like video, webinars, panel discussions and pot luck dinners. A whirlwind! More impressive, however, is the variety of interests and skills of the wonderful people I met and worked with. From patients, to patient safety experts, to providers, to educators, to administrators, to hospital employees, to – yes – patient advocates. You can imagine the discussions that took place! During the week, my brain was going a million-thoughts-per-hour as we covered dozens of topics related to both empowerment and advocacy. …

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A Patient Advocate Is Just Like….

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In a conversation with a group of friends, Lisa told us she has decided to buy her first house. She feels like the market is right – prices are low, interest rates are low – so why not take the plunge? We responded by providing advice to her based on our own experiences with buying homes. “Be sure to get it inspected.” “Shop around for mortgage rates.” “Sign a contract with a buyer’s agent, otherwise your interests won’t really be represented.” “Beware of shortsales and bank repos because I’ve heard really bad things about those on the news.” … and …

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The Option of Saying “NO”

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Several months ago I wrote about the tendency of big-hearted advocates to over-extend themselves with volunteer work; that when someone needs their help, but doesn’t have the means to pay them, they don’t know how to say “no.” We looked at some of the ways to get past that inability in order to keep our businesses moving forward. Truth is, that is only one of the circumstances where “no” is the right answer. That’s true whether it is us, as professional advocacy business owners who must choose to say no, or whether we must help our clients choose “no” if …

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YOMs – and That Sense of Entitlement

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It arrived in my email a few days ago – a demand for a reply. It came from a person who reads my articles at About.com. She had sent me a question the day before regarding trouble she was having getting copies of her records from her doctor. I had not yet responded to that email. The second one arrived, shouting in capital letters: WHY DIDN’T YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION? I SENT IT YESTERDAY AND YOU HAVEN’T ANSWERED IT YET! There it is. A simple example of that sense of entitlement we all seem to be dealing with. I get …

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Advocating – It’s Like Nailing Jello to a Tree

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(No – that’s not Dad in the photo – but this gentleman is quite representative!) Last week I shared notes from my father’s hospital bedside as he began his recovery from back surgery. The majority of his hospital stay was safe and successful, although we continued to have big problems managing his pain throughout. Dad was discharged to a skilled nursing center to convalesce and begin rehab. He’s well on the road to recovery. We have much to be thankful for. As mentioned previously, my work does not typically include helping individual patients with their healthcare challenges. I write and …

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Notes from the Hospital Bedside

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Dad had back surgery Friday morning. As many of you know, I don’t ordinarily work as a patient advocate. My work is about supporting patient advocates – so I look at these kinds of experiences as opportunities to learn, and to use some of the excellent advice I’ve learned from many of you over the years. I’m relieved to say – I haven’t had much opportunity to make a difference! Dad’s care has been quite good. So, as his advocate, my last 72 hours have been…. well…. boring. But there have been a few things I have observed, and a …

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