Patient Navigator Blog

The Patient Navigator Blog


From advice on specific illnesses to tips on how to communicate with your specialists, there’s a wealth of knowledge on the Patient Navigator blog.

Recent Posts

Medicare

Medicare Advantage Plans – Beware!


Beware! This year’s Medicare Open Enrollment period runs from October 15 – December 7. I call it “MediScare” season because private Medicare Advantage insurers try to scare consumers into signing up for their plans. These Advantage plans often over-promise and under-deliver, putting patients at risk. During Open Enrollment, current and future Medicare recipients are bombarded…

Patient Advocacy

Patient Advocacy – History and Trends


When I tell people that I am a patient advocate and my job is to help patients and families navigate through our healthcare system, they often respond  “I wish I had known you when ….”  They tell me stories about when they were overwhelmed, confused, afraid, or unsatisfied by our complicated, expensive, and often inefficient…

Medicare

Medicare Patients Need to Stay Informed


A recent article in the Washington Post caught my attention and reminded me how important it is for anyone on Medicare to keep up with rule changes. This article is especially timely for any patient scheduled for a surgery because of some drastic changes to the list of surgeries that can be performed as a…

Patient Centered Care

Patient Navigators – Who We Are and What We Do


Patient advocacy, or patient navigation, is gaining attention as an emerging profession, both in the media and in the popular lexicon, because it fills so many gaps in the current American health care system. This is especially true today as we continue implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is changing the landscape for consumers in how health care is delivered and paid for in this country.

Cancer

Health Literacy Spotlight


Only 12% of Americans have proficient health literacy skills, so the majority of adults may have difficulty completing routine health tasks like understanding discharge instructions or diabetes care. There is a strong, independent association between health literacy and health outcomes.

Chronic Disease

Defensive Medicine Costs Spelled Out


The practice of defensive medicine decreases patient access to health care, and increases costs of health care for everyone. Some patients are left in the lurch as physicians avoid the sickest patients, or those requiring higher-risk procedures, in order to reduce their exposure to malpractice suits. A 2008 study by the Massachusetts Medical Society found that 83% of its physicians practiced defensive medicine at a cost of more than $1.4 billion annually in that state alone.

Cancer

Our Health Is Our Greatest Gift


Many of you reading this blog have experienced some type of difficult health situation, for yourselves, a friend or family member.  It’s also what makes so many of us passionate about helping others through their illness.  It’s why Patient Navigator exists. Since it’s the New Year, most people take some type of inventory of their…

Caregivers

“Advocates Help Patients Navigate Health Care Maze”


On June 22, NPR reporter Richard Knox aired this story during the “Morning Edition” broadcast.  It was an excellent piece profiling efforts by an individual and a volunteer organization to help patients and families get the care they need to navigate our health care and elder care systems.  Each time the media does a piece on…

Cancer

Center for Mind-Body Medicine Training


I attended a four-day training sponsored by the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. from June 11-14.   It is called CancerGuides II and it was extraordinary.  During this training, we learned to create safe, effective individualized programs of comprehensive and integrative care for people with cancer and their families.   I met hundreds of practitioners…

Cancer

Digital Solutions for Health Care


I’ve said in previous posts that we must move to digital records.  In the past weeks, I’ve heard horror stories about the inability of medical providers to communicate with each other.  I personally know that to be true.  I recently asked a doctor treating my daughter if he was planning to inform another specialist (separately…

Cancer

Patient Navigators Guide Us Through the Medical Maze


The March 29, 2009 edition of Parade magazine featured an article about the new specialty of patient navigation.  The article highlights some of what navigators can do.  For now, the National Cancer Institute has undertaken several pilot projects to train and deploy navigators in medically underserved areas.   But as the article also correctly points out, patient navigators…