Why Can’t Patients Be Their Own Advocates?
Imagine… you suffer chest pains and are swept off to the ER. The pain meds leave you too groggy to make good decisions. Who will help you? Or… difficult symptoms result in a diagnosis that leaves you...
View ArticleWho Deserves a Patient Advocate’s Help?
I’ve wrestled with this question more than once. It’s the question raised on occasion by those who talk about universal healthcare, and a for-profit healthcare system. It’s a question asked by those...
View ArticleAnd Now a Word for Patients….
Last week we recognized Private Professional Patient Advocates Week, and across the country, some great stories showed up in newspapers, on TV, online and in radio broadcasts sharing stories of...
View ArticleWhat Do Your Patient Clients Expect from You?
Ilene Corina is a long-time patient safety advocate who often sits by patients’ bedsides in hospitals to keep them safe during their hospital stays. A recent blog post of hers asks the question: when a...
View ArticleNotes from the Hospital Bedside
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...
View ArticleAdvocating – It’s Like Nailing Jello to a Tree
(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...
View ArticleAdvocate for Patients and the Environment, Too
Among the dozens of details that needed attention after my father died, was figuring out what to do with the virtual pharmacy we found in his apartment. Dad was a firm believer of better living through...
View ArticleHealthcare System Challenges in 2013 Create Opportunities for Advocates
The healthcare times, they are a-changing! As we wrap up 2012 and look forward to next year (or perhaps, by the time you read this, it will already be 2013), there are a number of issues and challenges...
View ArticleHospital Providers Come to Patient Advocates’ Defense
Last week I had the opportunity to speak to two groups of hospital quality personnel; those folks who work in hospitals who are charged with overseeing the safety of their patients. They are QIOS, that...
View ArticlePushing Back
I truly dislike negativity. I suspect you do, too. As a kid, I would avoid arguments like the plague. I hated the upset that went along with it – that feeling of frustration, and churning in my...
View ArticleIs Grampa Packin’ Heat? And Other Safety Considerations for Advocates
Sometimes a conversation gets started in our APHA Forum that brings me up short. (One reason I SO love the Forum!) One of those conversations was kicked off this week by a member who posed a question:...
View ArticleDo Advocates Have a Duty to Report Dangerous Patients?
Warning! This will be one of those posts you think back to from time to time, because the answers aren’t clear or easy, and the stakes are so high. A few weeks ago we all watched the news about 150...
View ArticleA Second Opinion Isn’t Good Enough
I’ve stewed over this for years, since 2013 when he was first arrested. But ever since Farid Fata was sentenced to 45 years in prison (ONLY 45!) for fraud, I’m like a dog with a bone. I just can’t let...
View ArticleCan an Advocate Do More Harm Than Good?
Yes, sadly (although rarely) a patient advocate does more harm than good. I was reminded of this recently when I heard from one of our Alliance members who was picking up the ball from another advocate...
View ArticleMerriam Webster, The Who, and Hacking Churnalism
Today we’re channeling The Who, Merriam Webster and one of my longtime favorite fellow patient empowerment buddies, Gary Schwitzer, who reminds me at least weekly why we just can’t trust the media...
View ArticleDo You Protect Your Herd?
(Warning! Today I’m sharing a personal opinion for which I don’t expect total agreement. But I’m steadfast in my belief. I have science behind me. I’m girded for argument… bring it on!) When I began my...
View ArticleRevisiting the Case of Farid Fata – Why Patient Advocates Must Take Notice
In July 2015, we took a look at the case of Farid Fata, the Michigan oncologist who is now in prison on fraud charges because he diagnosed and treated more than 500 people for cancer they didn’t have,...
View ArticleBreaking the Rules
If you think about it for a minute, rule-breaking plays an enormous role in the life of a patient advocate. Rule breaking – is one reason (even if it’s not the only reasons) we exist – a problem we...
View ArticlePhysicians Buying In – Bring on the Patient Advocates!
Posted in the APHA Discussion Forum by one of our member advocates, In the last week I have received calls from 2 potential clients whose physicians actually advised them to get a Patient Advocate! One...
View ArticleAnnouncing – the Winner of the Schueler Patient Advocacy Compass Award for 2016
The most prestigious award in the profession of patient advocacy, and in particular, independent, private patient advocacy is awarded this time each year to the person who best exemplifies the tenets...
View ArticleTough Questions, Informative Discussions, and Opportunities to Count Our...
From 2006 to 2010, I hosted a weekly radio show, sponsored by Upstate Medical University (Syracuse, NY). It gave me the opportunity to interview truly knowledgeable experts in every aspect of medicine...
View ArticleWould You Draw a Line?
Early in my patient empowerment work, I was invited to write a column for my local daily newspaper. Over the next six years, I wrote hundreds of columns on every empowerment topic imaginable from how...
View ArticleWhat the Presidential Election Results Mean for Patient Advocates
When President Barack Obama ran for office in 2008, healthcare reform was already an enormous and contentious topic. In those days, I was invited to speak to dozens of groups of patients and caregivers...
View ArticleSleep Deprivation Spells Opportunity – and Responsibility
Saturday night (well, OK, in the wee hours of Sunday morning) across most of the US and Canada, we “sprung forward” our clocks, resulting in lost sleep, and at least a day of being totally thrown off...
View ArticleAn Anniversary, Meltdowns, Blessings, and Fuel for Advocates
Please indulge me today. I’m going to share a very personal experience I rarely think about anymore, in hopes it will propel some good advocacy. Sometimes months go by when I barely give it any...
View ArticleSAFE! … or Maybe Not?
Safety has been on my mind this week. It’s one of those concepts that, when related to patient advocacy and care management, can be applied in so many ways, with not so many easy answers. What kind of...
View ArticleTop 10 “Best Of” APHA Posts: 2017 in Review
As 2017 comes to a close, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the blog posts you, my readers, considered to be most worth your reading time. Using post analytics, I’m able to see how...
View ArticleThat Very Very Thin Line – Do NOT Be Tom!
My husband and I moved two years ago to Florida where we now live in an “active adult” community*. We love it! We’re very happy here. We’ve met and made many new friends – people we have truly come to...
View ArticleServing One’s Country as a Healthcare Soldier
Over the holiday weekend – Memorial Day Weekend – I pondered the sacrifices soldiers have made for our country. I expect you did, too. I’m married to a retired soldier. My husband spent 20 years in the...
View ArticleHelp Us Assess the LoveFest!
Once upon a time, the word “advocate” was contentious: doctors didn’t want us in the room, nurses didn’t want us next to a hospital bed, and health insurers thought we patient advocates were nothing...
View ArticleThe Momma Test
Over the years, one of my favorite things to do has been to work with / speak to / address college students. They are young, aren’t yet set in their ways, still hope to save the world, are naive to the...
View ArticlePatient Advocates and the Coronavirus
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know you can’t turn on the news, read news online or in a newspaper, or attend an event, or go anywhere – in person or online – without seeing or hearing...
View ArticleBeware Those Wolves in Sheeps’ Clothing
This post was originally published in July 2013, and was updated in July 2020. Two unrelated stories have crossed my path, but their bottom lines are the same. It’s too easy to be fooled. Story #1: …...
View ArticleShe Crossed the Line: An Ethics Violation Which Gave Us All a Black Eye
It was jarring. It was upsetting. And it was taken care of swiftly. One among us decided that advocacy ethics don’t apply to her. And her actions, way outside our best practices and ethics, could have...
View ArticleBurned Out? Leaving Medicine? Advocacy Might Be Right For You
Understatement warning! (Like a spoiler alert only it’s no spoiler!) Burnout among medical professionals is huge right now. The COVID pandemic has caused exhausted healthcare professionals to suffer...
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