You Bet Your Life! The Top 10 Reasons You Need a Professional Patient Advocate by Your Side
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About this ebook
The healthcare system has become almost unrecognizable:
Your doctor spends so little time with you. You don’t have enough time to get your questions answered!
None of your doctors talk to each other. No one coordinates your care.
They send you for so many tests; do you really need them all?
What happens if you are misdiagnosed or there is a mistake in your care?
And the cost... We know we are paying so much more for care than we ever did before!
Is it possible to get the care we need at a price we can afford?
Enter professional patient advocates; independent, empathetic, capable navigators and negotiators. People who can help you get the care you want and need while keeping your costs under control.
There are at least 10 reasons you need a private, professional advocate. And there are better and more effective ways than others to find the right one for you.
Learn more about the reasons and approach for improving your care and its cost in this second book of the
You Bet Your Life! series.
Trisha Torrey
Trisha is known as Every Patient's Advocate. She is a writer and national speaker who teaches patients how to navigate the unwieldy and dysfunctional health care system, and teaches patient advocates how to help those who need their help. She has appeared on or been quoted by the CNN, MSNBC, NPR, Fox News, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, O Magazine, Health Magazine, Bottom Line and other media.Trisha is also the founder and former director of The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates, an organization which supports the business needs of private patient advocates, helping them help the patients who need their assistance. The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates' members are the engine behind AdvoConnection.com, a directory that helps patients and caregivers find the help they need.Her first book, written to empower patients, teaching them to stick up for their rights and take responsibility for their medical care to improve their chances for a good medical outcome, and is titled You Bet Your Life! The 10 Mistakes Every Patient Makes (How to Fix Them to Get the Health Care You Deserve). It was originally published in February 2010. A second, revised and updated version of You Bet Your Life! was published in 2013.In 2015, she published a second book for patients and caregivers, You Bet Your Life! The Top 10 Reasons You Need a Professional Patient Advocate by Your Side.She has also written the Health Advocacy Career Series:- So You Want to Be a Patient Advocate? Choosing a Career in Health or Patient Advocacy (print and e-book)- The Health Advocate's Start and Grow Your Own Practice Handbook (print only)- The Health Advocate's Basic Marketing Handbook (print only)- The Health Advocate's Advanced Marketing Handbook (print only)Learn more about Trisha Torrey's work at- www.TrishaTorrey.com- www.DiagKNOWsisMedia.com
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You Bet Your Life! The Top 10 Reasons You Need a Professional Patient Advocate by Your Side - Trisha Torrey
You Bet Your Life!
The Top 10 Reasons You Need a Professional Patient Advocate by Your Side
(Get the Healthcare You Deserve)
Copyright 2015 by Trisha Torrey, Every Patient’s Advocate
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
ISBN: 978-0-9828014-8-2
SW1
Discounts for bulk-orders of the print book are available by contacting the author. Trisha Torrey is also available for speaking opportunities to groups of patients or professionals.
DiagKNOWsis Media
PO Box 53
Baldwinsville, NY 13027
1-888-478-6588
www.DiagKNOWsis.com
Also from DiagKNOWsis Media:
You Bet Your Life! The 10 Mistakes Every Patient Makes
(How to Fix Them to Get the Healthcare You Deserve)
Dedication
It’s not easy being a pioneer in a new profession, one that didn’t exist less than
a decade ago.
I count among my blessings the hundreds of pioneering, private, professional, patient advocates who are the members of the Alliance of Professional Health Advocates.
I have the privilege of working with them every day.
This book is dedicated to my advocates,
and their hard work in building a system that helps patients get the care they need, at the time they need it, at a cost they can afford.
Every Patient’s Advocate
July 2015
Table of Contents
Introduction: Medical Nirvana Is Now Extinct
Chapter One: What Is a Professional Patient Advocate?
Chapter Two: Reason #1: YDKYDK (You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know)
Chapter Three: Reason #2: Your Emotions Get In the Way
Chapter Four: Reason #3: Your Providers Practice with One Arm Tied Behind Their Backs
Chapter Five: Reason #4: No One is Coordinating Your Care
Chapter Six: Reason #5: You Need Protection from Medical Mistakes
Chapter Seven: Reason #6: The World Wide Web Is a Trap
Chapter Eight: Reason #7: You’re Not Making Your Own Decisions
Chapter Nine: Reason #8: You’ve Probably Got the Wrong Health Insurance Plan
Chapter Ten: Reason #9: Your Insurance Coverage Is a Moving Target
Chapter Eleven: Reason #10: Your Medical Bills Are Probably Wrong
Chapter Twelve: Find the Right Advocate: Relax (You’re in Good Hands)
• Resources
• About the Author
Introduction
Medical Nirvana Is Now Extinct
Do you long, as I do, for the Marcus Welby days?
If you’re missing that reference, Marcus Welby, MD, was the kindly TV doctor of the 1970s, played by Robert Young, who was always successful, and always cared. Each week, in the span of one hour, he solved the most difficult of patient situations, was always there for his patients; physically, mentally and emotionally.
And then… those patients never received a bill for his services.
Medical nirvana! And today, impossible to find, no matter where in the world you live.
Fast forward to today and you’ll find the healthcare system has become almost unrecognizable. Why does the doctor spend so little time with you? Why won’t your doctors talk to each other? Why do they send you for so many tests; do you really need them all? And why is it that you’re paying so much more than you used to for things insurance used to cover?
Those questions, and many more, remain unanswered, or if they are answered, you don’t like what you hear.
I don’t blame you!
It’s a dangerous potion: less care and more cost. Frustration and confusion. Too much of the wrong information, and not enough that is understandable. Mistakes made, and you don’t know it, and you can’t fix them.
How are you supposed to get what you need, when you need it, at a price you can afford?
Enter patient advocates. Specifically professional, independent, patient advocates; people who improve the quality of your life, perhaps extend the quantity of your life… The people you must have by your side if you are diagnosed with, or being treated for, any sort of condition or disease that is more than an annoying sniffle or a bumped head.
A Scary Diagnosis Is Like Getting Thrown Into Jail
You’re driving home from an evening out when flashing red lights come up behind you. You pull your car over, as required, are asked for your license and registration, and the next thing you know you’ve been arrested and thrown into jail.
Whaaat? Why? Having never been in jail before, you have no idea what to expect. You’re floored, flustered and fearful. They’re talking charges and lawyers and one phone call, and you’re in your head trying to sort out why you were pulled over in the first place. You hadn’t had a drink for more than two hours, you weren’t speeding - so - what? You don’t understand the words they are using, except that you will be there at least overnight. Your car is still parked on the side of the road. Your spouse is expecting you home but won’t have any idea where you are…
Your life has been turned upside down, totally without warning, and you are now being handled by people who don’t speak your language (they speak legal, you speak people), may not respect you, want to tell you what decisions to make, and hold your fate in their hands.
Yes, they hold YOUR fate in THEIR