patient advocacy

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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Using Advocacy Specialties to Create Niches

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When I glance at the many topics our AdvoConnection members post about in the Forum, I find certain people posting on certain kinds of topics. That leads me to believe that they have special interests – or expertise – in those topics…. Which leads me to thinking that the patients and caregivers who are hiring them have interest in those topics, too. So why not use them in marketing? For example: One such topic has developed around interest in integrative approaches to care. At least one of the health advocacy educational programs was developed to focus strictly on integrative care. …

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Patient Advocates and HIPAA

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Lately I’ve run into questions and discussions about patient advocates or navigators and HIPAA, so it seems a good topic for today’s post. I’ll begin with a disclaimer: there’s no one on this green planet that can give you ALL the answers as they relate to HIPAA! No, not even the lawyers who live it every day. It’s complex and daunting. But there are some basics that might be useful. Here are the basics that can be useful to advocates: 1. It’s HIPAA, not HIPPA. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act. Notice, it doesn’t say anything about …

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Improving Patient Relationships – What I Told the Providers

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To say my trek to Alaska was overwhelmingly positive wouldn’t begin to touch the real experience. Alaska itself was glaciers, salmon, midnight sun, king crab legs, and learning that in Fairbanks everyone has an extension cord popping out the front of their cars, so they can plug them in during the winter to keep the engine and oil from freezing. Who knew? But the most fulfilling experience was working with the people who attended the workshops I taught. Warm, open, receptive, fun, willing to participate and learn, they were doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, nurse educators, dieticians, pharmacists, a psychiatrist, front …

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What Do Your Patient Clients Expect from You?

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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 patient or caregiver hires a patient advocate, what do happens if, despite everyone’s best efforts, the outcomes are negative? Of course, the answer depends on a number of factors, including the fact that not all advocate services are cut and dried and easy to define. Further, I have to think that sometimes an advocate is hired with one set of expectations, as understood by the …

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The Great Divide: The Haves and Have Nots

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(Originally posted June 2011. Updated June 2019) The health and patient advocates who are listed at AdvoConnection are all private practice advocates; that is, they work directly for patients and the patients pay them. Their services are not covered by insurance, their services aren’t donated or free. This is how these advocates make a living – they are paid by patients or caregivers. That seems to upset some people, and lately, it seems like a number of people have taken some sort of offense at that idea – as if patients or caregivers should not have the right to seek …

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