The key to building your professional patient advocate business is to identify the people who can most benefit from your services. Understanding who your target...

Private patient advocacy is still a relatively new profession, and because of that, independent advocates might not know where to turn for practical legal advice...

Patient advocacy is an emerging field in healthcare, and if you’re going out on your own to establish a business, you may be wondering how...

Companies are always looking for foolproof communications techniques to increase the visibility and recognition of their brands. Although there are no silver bullets in public...

If you’re an independent patient advocate on a budget, you may be struggling with ways to market your business. Word-of-mouth marketing can be an effective...

Caregivers often feel alone in their circumstances, even though there are well over 30 million in the United States. Advances in medical technology result in...

The U.S. healthcare industry is at a turning point. With mounting pressure from lawmakers, federal agencies and healthcare administrators to improve quality, ensure patient safety...

Motivational interviewing may be the key to boosting patient engagement and positive health outcomes, says a new study published June 25. Motivational interviewing, a counseling...

One of the goals of the Professional Patient Advocate Institute is to provide professional development opportunities that raise the bar for those in practice. As...

Your client, Mr. Smith, comes to you in need of surgery. So you research the best hospital. You visit with your client’s physician. And you...

Not all individuals who are currently uninsured will opt-in for healthcare once the Affordable Care Act (ACA) touches down in 2014. The Congressional Budget Office...

How does the Affordable Care Act affect children in low-income families and people who want to buy coverage on the new state insurance exchanges? Below...

Historically, one of the perks of working at a big company has been generous health benefits with modest out-of-pocket costs. But increasingly, large companies are...

For individuals who purchase health insurance directly, the vast majority are likely to use the new health insurance exchange program that states will be rolling...

Starting next year, the Affordable Care Act will largely prohibit insurers who sell individual and small-group health policies from charging women higher premiums than men...

Improper use of medication can have health consequences for the patient, but also hurts healthcare in the long run by contributing to the creation of...

With the passage of a ballot initiative  this month, Massachusetts became the latest state to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, joining 17...

Prescription medication for normal aging conditions now costs more than treating many serious and potentially life-threatening diseases, according to new research. In 2011, spending on...

Nearly one in four Internet consumers has purchased prescription medicine online, according to a recent survey conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At...

Nearly 13,000 consumers who paid significantly more for prescription drugs than they expected based on allegedly deceptive pricing claims made by CVS Caremark will be...

Few sick or elderly patients want to live out their last few days in the confine of a hospital – most prefer to spend their...

Horror stories of abuse, neglect and other inappropriate care performance have cast a shadow over the reputation of nursing homes in recent years, leading many...

As the first baby boomers washed over the 65-year-old precipice in 2011, they brought with them a looming health crisis that has only begun to...

Many people who are terminally ill delay entering hospice care until just a few days or weeks before they die, in part because they or...

Living with dementia can be incredibly frustrating for both patients and their families. Unfortunately, there is no cure and little available treatment for this debilitating...

Getting a patient to take their medication according to their prescribed directions can prove difficult. Even the most health-savvy are liable to misplace their medicine...

When a physician or other provider meets a patient after a hospital stay, the question of follow-up care – including roles and responsibilities to bridge...

The use of electronic prescribing systems holds the potential to drastically reduce the number of medication errors seen throughout the healthcare system and render a...

With the passage of new funding, two high-risk groups – low-income pregnant women and newborns – will now see a greater opportunity to thrive. In...

There's a growing recognition by clinicians that some patients who arrive at the emergency department can benefit if they’re kept under observation for up to...

One of the more important and distinct goals of patient advocates is to ensure that the patient is not just receiving the most appropriate medical...

Sona Mehring, founder of CaringBridge, isn’t a patient advocate in the traditional sense. She doesn’t have a medical background, and she started up her nonprofit...

A new smart phone and tablet application targeted at women that offers access to a year’s worth of practical health information highlighted week-by-week is now...

Janssen Healthcare Innovation has launched a new mobile platform designed for most smart phones to improve adherence to treatment regimens. Care4Today Mobile Adherence, a secure...

It is normal for patients with a chronic disease to feel overwhelmed and confused about the treatment options available to them. For colon cancer patients,...