Watching the Headlines for Opportunities

3 minutes of reading / 1 Comment / By

A link on Twitter precipitated today’s post and idea for you. It contains a challenge, too! See below. The tweet linked to a news article: A second set of eyes cuts errors at HCMC. It tells about an initiative at Hennepin County Medical Center (Minneapolis) that cut the medication errors found in patients’ discharge paperwork from 92 percent – to zero. 0. Nada. No medication errors. Impressive. Now, if you or your patient-client happens to be discharged from Hennepin County Medical Center, that’s great news. But the article got me wondering – what about the other 99.999 percent of discharged …

Watching the Headlines for Opportunities Continue Reading

A One Word Resolution for All Advocates

3 minutes of reading / 6 Comments / By

Greetings at the top of new year, with hopes you had a great holiday season and you’re getting prepped for success in 2012. I always feel a bit of inertia after taking a break, or a vacation, or when my world has slowed down for some deep breath-taking for awhile…. that is, my body at rest still wants to stay at rest! And when I hear about “resolutions” – geesh – that sounds too much like work. So, as we are bombarded by media talking about this resolution or that, I have one simple one for many of you – …

A One Word Resolution for All Advocates Continue Reading

Why We Should Avoid Using the Title “Certified Patient Advocate”

6 minutes of reading / 6 Comments / By

It’s a big question among patient and health advocates – whether or not someone is considered “certified” as a patient advocate. Last week I answered a question that came from an advocate about why someone would bother taking a course or finishing a program if they wouldn’t be considered “certified” at the end…. But there are even bigger considerations – some food for thought for those who disagree with my stand about claiming certification. I believe the use of “Certified Patient Advocate,” in these early stages of the profession’s development has the potential of hurting both you, as an individual …

Why We Should Avoid Using the Title “Certified Patient Advocate” Continue Reading

Revisiting Education and Patient Advocates’ Certification

2 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment / By

Attendees at our recent AdvoConnection Business Institute had a variety of topics and issues they wanted to discuss. Follow up surveys and emails produced even more, including some questions that, over time, will be answered to our best ability. Some will be answered during teleconference call-ins, others through our fabulous advisors, and one or two will be addressed right here on the blog. One question that pops up frequently regards certification. As I’ve written before, and as is true today, there is no such thing as a nationally recognized patient advocacy certification – period. Therefore, there is no such thing …

Revisiting Education and Patient Advocates’ Certification Continue Reading

Putting WOM to Work for You

4 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment / By
man speaking

(Originally published in November 2011. Updated November 2019) One of our APHA members got in touch after a talk he gave to his local Rotary Club. He was disappointed in the turn-out and wondered whether all his effort was worth it. After our brief email conversation, it seemed that sharing some of the important points might be a good idea since you might run into some of his same issues. Those issues are based on presentation and expectations. So let’s take a look. Public Speaking, whether there are 5, 50, 500 or 5000 people in attendance is a great form …

Putting WOM to Work for You Continue Reading

Clarifications and an Update on the Schueler Compass Award

3 minutes of reading / Leave a Comment / By

Just so you know we pay attention, three important concerns have popped up about the Schueler Compass Award, the award recently announced at the AdvoConnection conference. These concerns came in the form of replies to the survey we took after the conference was over. Since the surveys were completed anonymously, and since comments expressed by one person may represent the thoughts of many, we’ll address them here, publicly, on the blog. Concern 1: Posted among the survey results about the conference in general was the following: There was alot of conversation about the KS awards going to 2 members who will …

Clarifications and an Update on the Schueler Compass Award Continue Reading

Patient Advocacy on the Cusp of the Tipping Point

4 minutes of reading / 3 Comments / By

A tipping point: a dictionary definition will tell you that it means “the crisis stage in a process, when significant change takes place.” And for patient and health advocacy – we are almost there. Almost at the tipping point. I first learned the term when I read Malcolm Gladwell’s book by that title, The Tipping Point. I learned that the term is borrowed from epidemiology. That is, when a contagious organism infects enough people to go from just a few sick people, to hundreds, or thousands or millions – the tipping point occurs in that modicum of space or time, …

Patient Advocacy on the Cusp of the Tipping Point Continue Reading

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