Health /Medical Consumerism | Trisha Torrey

Patient Assistance: Access to Drugs for the Uninsured, and a Dose of EPA, Too

Health /Medical Consumerism, Health Insurance, Patient Advocacy, Patient Empowerment, Patient Tools

I’m pleased to announce a new relationship — PatientAssistance.com and Every Patient’s Advocate…. The courtship didn’t last long before the commitment. PatientAssistance.com is a non-profit organization which helps those who are uninsured gain access to the pharmaceutical drugs they need. Check it out — a very necessary helping hand for those who just can’t afford […]

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Healthcare Reform – Do You Understand the Questions?

Health /Medical Consumerism, Health Insurance, Healthcare Quality, Patient Empowerment, Politics and Medicine

We all think we know what healthcare reform means — we think it means something about universal healthcare, right? You might be surprised to learn that “universal healthcare” isn’t what it’s about at all. It’s about shifting who gets healthcare, figuring out how to pay for it, and knowing that any success we find will

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Will Healthcare Be Important in the Upcoming Elections?

Health /Medical Consumerism, Health Insurance, Media, Patient Advocacy, Politics and Medicine

I’ve been running a poll on my About.com patient empowerment site, asking the question Tom Brokaw asked in the debate this week: Is healthcare a right? or a responsibility? Do we as individuals believe we should all have a right to healthcare coverage, similar to the way we have police protection, or fire protection, or

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Wrong Site Surgery — What Happens Next?

Doctor Communication, Health /Medical Consumerism, Healthcare Quality, Hospitals, Medical Errors / Mistakes / Misdiagnosis, Patient Advocacy, Patient Empowerment, Patient Safety, Patient Tools, Surgery

I don’t usually write about local or state news because my work is really more broad than that — however — an article in my local newspaper about a local hospital and wrong-site surgery just begged for some additional information! Wrong site surgery — a “never event” that takes place an estimated 100 – 200

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Daniel’s SPTCL Diagnosis is Suspect, Too

Health /Medical Consumerism, Healthcare Quality, Patient Advocacy, Patient Empowerment, Patient Tools, Self Help, SPTCL

When I was (mis)diagnosed with SPTCL (subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lyphoma) in 2004, I was handed a book, published in July 2004, that stated that “fewer than 100 cases have been reported in the last decade.” Yeah — really, really rare. Because that’s a book used by oncologists all over the world. Then, from Fall 2004

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Never Events — Shooting the Messenger

1 Comment / Doctor Communication, Health /Medical Consumerism, Health Insurance, Healthcare Quality, Hospitals, Media, Medical Errors / Mistakes / Misdiagnosis, Patient Advocacy, Patient Empowerment, Patient Safety, Patient Tools, Politics and Medicine, Surgery

Beginning October 1, 2008, Medicare, and many health insurance companies, will no longer pay hospitals for the additional services needed for patients who suffer from “never events.” Never Events, as defined by the National Quality Forum, are those events which should never happen to a patient. There are 28 errors on the list ranging from

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Ulterior Motives for Eating Disorders, Too

Health /Medical Consumerism, Healthcare Quality, Medical Errors / Mistakes / Misdiagnosis, Patient Advocacy, Patient Empowerment, Patient Safety, Patient Tools, Pharmaceutical Drugs, Self Help

I had lunch today with a long-time friend, Mindy. (No, of course that’s not her real name…) It’s been at least a year since we saw each other, and probably two since we had a long conversation. My heart broke as I learned that her daughter, Lindsay (not her real name either) has, for lack

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A Sea of Broken Hearts – Dad Posts About the Loss of Alex

Health /Medical Consumerism, Healthcare Quality, Hospitals, Medical Errors / Mistakes / Misdiagnosis, Patient Advocacy, Patient Empowerment, Patient Safety, Patient Tools, Self Help

I’ve added another guest post this morning — one that will break your heart, too. John T. James, PhD, a dad — and now a fixer — posted about his son Alex, a seemingly healthy 19-year-old college runner who one day collapsed, was hospitalized, and died a few weeks later. The problem is, of course,

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