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Some High Profile Marketing and a Review Opportunity, Too
Deviating from my usual advice or issues-type post, I have a couple of invitations for you today. In both cases you’ll be helping yourself and helping future health or patient advocates, too. Invitation #1: Tell a success story. Many of you know that (in my “other life”) I write about patient empowerment – issues, concerns, advice and tips. One thing I am reminded of every day is that many people have no idea that such a service as private patient advocacy exists. They may even see references to patient or health advocates or navigators who can help them weather their medical care challenge storms. But because we don’t have a lot of public examples, they don’t understand when such a service might be useful to them. I want everyone to have an advocate – just like everyone knows a real estate agent to call, or knows when it’s time to call their lawyer or someone to help with their taxes. Especially with the confusion of the upcoming implementation of healthcare reform, having a private advocate to call will become a necessity. So how do we accomplish that more widespread realization on the part of patients and caregivers that the help they need is out there and ready to help them? This time we’re going to leverage the power of storytelling combined with the several hundred pageviews a month that come to my patient empowerment articles. And when I say “we” – I hope you are going to pitch in! If you are a professional advocate – please tell a story of a patient whose outcomes improved because you were there to help out. You don’t need to tell a long or complicated story. You can tell about one successful aspect of your work even for a client who required extensive services. Just provide a good example of something you were able to accomplish that improved that client’s experience with the healthcare system. And – you can sign your name and designate your location, if you would like to (not required – but that’s the marketing part!) Invitation #2: Provide a…