Patient Advocates as Contact Tracers: Explore The Possibilities
During this covid 19 epidemic, we have all been challenged both personally and professionally. We have made major and often difficult adjustments, by staying and working from home and strictly following the guidelines of the cities in which we...
Cares Act Provider Relief Fund: What Does it Mean?
The Cares Act Provider Relief Fnd is intended to provide funding to medical providers for care related to COVID-19 for uninsured individuals. This funding will be given to providers with some exceptions. What Does This Mean For The Uninsured? The...
Declaring Independence: Join The Patient Advocacy Revolution
As we hunker down and isolate during an otherwise celebratory holiday, it’s the perfect time for Independent Patient Advocates to reflect on our own history. For many of us, it was a horrific personal healthcare experience that inspired...
TIMEOUT!
I am a patient advocate but my clinical practice was spent in the operating room. I spent almost twenty years advocating for patients during surgery. Surgical intervention saves lives. No question. In fact, worldwide 1 in 25 people every year will...
Stress Less
I'm a registered nurse patient advocate. I help people navigate our dysfunctional disease care system. I mean, why call it health care? Chronic illness is rapidly on the rise and we spend billions of dollars on treating symptoms and not the root...
Intriguing Information About COVID-19
Did you know there was something called COVID toes? Really? What are they going to tell us next about the coronavirus? Just as we thought times were starting to relax in the COVID world, we have seen an uptick in cases. The CDC is recommending new...
Medicare Changes in Response to COVID-19
Guest Blog: Jim Sullivan, CPA/PFS; Courtesy of American Institute of CPAs; Originally published in the Journal of Accountancy. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by making several temporary...
Planning For Solo
The definitionof solo is: "for or done by one person alone; unaccompanied, companionless." Are you an a solo ager? Reading on the subject of aging shows that the number of seniors over 65 living alone is on the rise and they are called "solos...
Understanding Advance Directives
Most of us have heard of getting our affairs in order. One may reach out to an attorney/estate planner to draw up a last will and testament or to designate what becomes of our assets when we die. Back in the late 1960s, an attorney wanted to help...
Loneliness: The Second Epidemic- Jeff Weinberg Featured on KDKA, Pittsburgh
Editor's note: This post contains material from a published piece featuring Jeff Weinberg by Christine Sorenson of KDKA News. PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — We know older people are the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s not just the disease...
Moving Forward In the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Over the past two months, I have joined with colleagues from across the country — Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Houston — to create webinars for fellow healthcare advocacy professionals on the impact of COVID-19. One fascinating...
Who Pays For Medicare: The Basics
Many do not understand Medicare, let alone how it is paid for. Most people only know that when they turn 65 or retire from their job, they switch to Medicare and all those taxes they paid during all those years will ensure they receive their...
The Perfect Storm: Preparing For Covid-19 During Hurricane Season
Summer months bring fun outdoor activities such as picnics, swimming, BBQs, and beaches; it also brings hurricanes. This year’s hurricane season is predicted to be more active than usual. Given the indications that COVID-19 will persist during...
May Was Mental Health Month
You may know that May was Mental Health Month, which is very apropos because in the United States, and even the world at large, the global pandemic brought on by the Coronavirus has created a mental health crisis which is likely to last well after...
I Am A Care Manager And This Is What I Do
"She is my eyes, ears, hands, and feet. I am disabled." That is how Joan, a weak but feisty 89-year-old, described my work to a nurse at the assisted living facility (ALF). Joan developed brain cancer after melanoma metastasized. Following rehab...