decision making

Of Heroes, Trust, Discord, Arrogance, and Karma – Part II

8 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment / By

Last week I shared with you two stories of my physician heroes, why they are my heroes, their relationship to my work in patient empowerment and patient advocacy, and why you, too, should emulate their actions; their professionalism, their behavior, and the actions they each took to buck a dysfunctional system. It’s all good, and true to karma, what went around came around – today good comes back to them. They both have stellar reputations within the community and among other physicians worldwide. Well-respected. Well-deserved reputations. Which takes us to today, and the karma that has come around to one …

Of Heroes, Trust, Discord, Arrogance, and Karma – Part II Continue Reading

Of Heroes, Trust, Discord, Arrogance, and Karma – Part I

6 minutes of reading / 2 Comments / By
copyright Sergey Nivens 123RF

This year I can tell I’m finally getting beyond the trauma. It’s a feeling of freedom to some extent, but sort of a shame to another. And you know me – I always end up analyzing these things (or, perhaps over-analyzing them) – enough so that I’m going to share some of that analysis with you. The trauma I refer to was the cancer (lymphoma) misdiagnosis in 2004 that propelled me to change careers to patient empowerment, and eventually advocacy. By trauma, I mean that I was told I that in a few short months I would be dead, and …

Of Heroes, Trust, Discord, Arrogance, and Karma – Part I Continue Reading

The Starfish Story Curmudgeon

4 minutes of reading / 1 Comment / By

Several weeks ago, a couple we know were married. It was a wonderfully happy event, celebrated by many. The wedding itself was elegant, and beautiful, and everyone had a delightful time at the reception. You know – the stuff fairy tales are made from. The bride chose a starfish theme for the celebration, telling the starfish story alongside it. She has worked hard for decades as a nurse and the starfish story speaks to her – a perfect choice for her, really. Starfish were part of both her wedding shower and the reception decor. Just lovely. What? You don’t know …

The Starfish Story Curmudgeon Continue Reading

Our Clients Need This ONE Skill the Most

5 minutes of reading / 1 Comment / By
photo of man listening @ kostyha Fotolia.com

Twenty years ago, prior to self-employment and work in patient empowerment and advocacy, I was the marketing director for my local community college. In so many ways I loved that job. It was different every day and allowed me to meet and get to know people I never would have known in any other way. It required me to get out into the college community to meet faculty, other administrative departments, and students. It required me to have good relations with the press, and because it was during a recession, it required me to be creative and clever to bring …

Our Clients Need This ONE Skill the Most Continue Reading

Whack-a-Mole and the Zen of the Caterpillar That Became Lunch

3 minutes of reading / 2 Comments / By

Tuesday was a whack-a-mole day. One thing would go wrong, I would begin to fix it, only to find something else needed fixing, too. Details with new bank accounts (have you tried opening a new business bank account lately?), an incorrect tax bill from the city where I now live and do business, hiccups with our new phone system, and myriad technical problems with the ongoing redesign and redevelopment of the APHA membership website… Yes, whack-a-mole. But Wednesday and Thursday, two experiences combined to give me new perspective, one I’ll share with you in hopes it will help you weather …

Whack-a-Mole and the Zen of the Caterpillar That Became Lunch Continue Reading

Preventing Our Own Brexit, Saving Our Clients and Advocacy Practices

7 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment / By

The whole world was fascinated last month by Brexit: the vote in Britain to leave the European Union. Would they leave? Wouldn’t they? But to me, the most fascinating part was what happened the next day. Once the vote had taken place and the (bare) majority had voted to leave the EU, those who had voted to leave began to learn the real truth of what they had chosen, and realized they had been duped. Yes, duped. Because the leaders on the “leave” side immediately disclaimed the promises they made. Ooops! they said! No, we can’t really apply the billions …

Preventing Our Own Brexit, Saving Our Clients and Advocacy Practices Continue Reading

Survey Says! The Results Are In

2 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment / By

We privately paid, independent, professional patient advocates “tend to be older, white, female, more highly educated, and have other medical training or past careers in related professions.” …. or at least that is one conclusion drawn by the surveyors — those who built, issued and analyzed the first National Health and Patient Advocate Survey.* Both private, self-employed advocates, and employed advocates (hospitals, insurers, employers), were surveyed. Whether or not you were one of the folks who took the survey, if you have any interest in patient or health advocacy as a profession, you’ll be interested in the results. They were …

Survey Says! The Results Are In Continue Reading

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