June 23rd, 2011 by Trisha Torrey
(as published in the Syracuse Post Standard
, June 21, 2011)
Many migraine sufferers and patients with back pain choose acupuncture to relieve their pain. Breast cancer patients are finding improved outcomes from meditation as they go through chemotherapy. Both acupuncture and meditation are considered “complementary” therapies, as are yoga, reiki, therapeutic massage and similar therapies. They don’t replace traditional medical treatment – they supplement it.
You might take echinacea to help fight a cold, or glucosamine to relieve knee pain. These and other herbal supplements like ginseng or fish oil are considered “alternative” remedies, and are sometimes chosen in place of pharmaceutical drugs your doctor might prescribe.
Of course, most of us who choose complementary or alternative therapies do so without our doctors knowing about it. In fact, when we visit the doctor and are asked what medicines we have been taking, some of us intentionally withhold that information. We don’t want our doctors to be upset with us.
That can be problematic and may even be unnecessary. More and more doctors are recommending certain CAM (complementary and alternative) treatments for their patients. Some medical practices are evolving into “integrative” practices where treatments are proposed based on what they believe will be helpful, regardless of whether it’s considered traditional medicine, or CAM.
Integrative medicine combines the best of both worlds of treatment approaches. If a CAM therapy can be useful, it may be recommended. But pharmaceutical drugs and surgeries will be options, too.
We patients don’t really care what a therapy is called or who developed it. We just want something that works. Unfortunately, not enough of our Western, traditionally trained doctors know enough about Eastern, complementary and alternative therapies and therefore won’t recommend them. Further, the doctors who know the least may be very vocal and intimidating about their disdain for the ones we might like to try.
If you have interest in CAM therapies and are in search of a new doctor, be sure to inquire about a doctor’s willingness to discuss or prescribe the types of therapies you are interested in as you make your first appointment.
If you like the doctor you have now but so far he has been unwilling to discuss integrative therapies, then ask if he will partner with you to learn more about them. If he says no, then it may be time to find a new doctor, one who is willing to explore possibilities for improving your health through integrative care.
………. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON THIS TOPIC ………………
What is CAM?
CAM Controversies
Why Won’t Health Insurance Pay for CAM?
How to Talk to Your Doctor About Complementary and Alternative Medicine
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September 18th, 2009 by Trisha Torrey
Update on this post: AdvoConnection is launched! Patients are being helped, and patient advocates are ready to help you. Learn more at: www.AdvoConnection.com.
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Hard at work we’ve been! And AdvoConnection, a dream of mine for several years, is getting ready to launch.
Since beginning my advocacy work almost five years ago, and being highly visible on the web, I hear from desperate patients on an almost daily basis:
- They cannot get an accurate diagnosis, know they need treatment, and need someone to help them find the doctors, or get the tests, that can help them.
- They are seeing too many specialists who aren’t coordinating their care. They need someone who will take a look at their reams of medical records to help them sort out their treatment.
- They are having trouble with their insurer, who isn’t paying as promised, or who is denying them care.
- They have received doctor or hospital bills that they can’t sort out or decipher. Or they believe they have been billed for services they did not receive. They’ve read that up to 80% of hospital bills are incorrect, and they want someone to help them negotiate with whomever has billed them.
- I hear frequently from adult children of elderly parents, perhaps living in a different location, who need assistance for their parents, either to help them find a nursing home, or for eldercare or home health care.
- The biggest heartbreakers are the parents who have run into brick walls trying to help their children. Or the left-behind person who lost a loved one to a medical error. They need to know who to turn to — an advocate? a lawyer? to get the support they need.
Now you can see why I wanted to develop AdvoConnection. It is a service for matching patients to the help they need in the form of patient advocates, patient navigators, billing assistance and other forms of medical system assistance that will help them navigate the waters of our dysfunctional health care system.
There are two aspects to this new site and service:
AdvoConnection for Patients – www. AdvoConnection.com – will launch October 1. Patients will be able to search for an advocate or navigator by location and service provided — at no cost to them. They will have the information they need to contact that advocate to inquire more about their services. It’s a directory type service that will help patients and caregivers find the help they need.
Any patient or caregiver who thinks s/he might need patient advocacy assistance can be added to the email list to be alerted when the site goes live (or, if you read this after October 1, 2009, go directly to the site itself.)
AdvoConnection for Advocates – http://members.AdvoConnection.com – provides advocates and navigators will the interface to be a part of the directory for patients described above. It also provides additional business services such as marketing assistance, and a forum for connecting with other advocates. By early 2010, it will also provide them with access to an ask-a-doctor service, and other services they may seek to help them grow their advocacy businesses.
Any patient advocate interested in participating with AdvoConnection may apply for membership through that site: http://members.AdvoConnection.com
February 20th, 2009 by Trisha Torrey
If you thought social networking was only for kids, Gen Web-ers or geeks, then think again.
Social networking has become a great source for finding people who can help you improve your health, or your medical care.
If you aren’t sure what I mean by social networking, then you’ll recognize it by other names you have heard, like FaceBook, mySpace or Twitter.
Last month I asked who is using these websites to learn more, and many of you voted in my poll. But now it occurs to me that for those of you who don’t, you may be missing out on some solid information that can move you forward in your quest to get better healthcare.
So here’s some background information on getting started with social networking.
And, as you may know, I am the patient empowerment guide at About.com — and learned recently that many of my About.com Health colleagues are using Twitter to help their readers, too. So I’ve put together a list of my About.com Health Twitter colleagues for you to check out.
Do you Twitter? Do you have a page at Facebook or any of the other social networking sites? If you’re willing to pitch into the conversation and share what you’ve learned, then please share your ideas – and your IDs, too.
January 31st, 2009 by Trisha Torrey
Here’s an update on my Every Patient’s Advocate activities
for the week of January 25 to 31:
See this icon? 
It means this link includes an opportunity for you to participate, beyond just a comment. However, please remember that your comments to any article or post are always welcome.
This icon 
indicates a piece that has attracted a lot of attention.
Blog Posts ………………………………..
Articles ………………………………..
Radio (Podcasts) ………………………………..
HealthLink on Air Guests — January 25:
Dr. Jeremy Shefner on Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) and Sharon Bauer, RN on Peripheral Stem Cell Transplants, plus review of a headline about premature infant deaths by Dr. Dave Smith, president of SUNY Upstate
Information is temporarily unavailable.
