Patient Advocacy Now

This week, we’re joined by Rajitha Bommakanti, an Independent Patient Advocate and lifestyle coach.  Raji was a practicing nurse for more than 30 years, and she now combines her clinical skills with holistic coaching to help change habits and achieve lifestyle goals. During our conversation, Rajitha delves into her utilization of evidence-based practices in coaching and how she empowers her client...

In this episode of Patient Advocacy Now, we speak with Nicole Broadhurst, the founder of Tennessee Health Advocates. Nicole's practice is focused on medical billing, and she provides her clients with the tools needed to decode their healthcare charges, empowering them to take charge of their medical expenses and enhance their quality of life. Join us as Nicole Broadhurst shares her journey fr...

Dr. Alan Feren is a former MD who is now practicing as an Independent Patient Advocate. In this episode, Dr. Feren shares his long and impressive journey of perseverance, integrity, and advocacy. As a general surgeon, Dr. Feren was always an advocate for his patients. He took on the tough cases that nobody else wanted to touch. His approach from day one has been to demystify medical jargon, making...

For so many independent patient advocates, it can be a scary proposition to go it alone. In this episode, we hear from two good friends from Omaha, Nebraska who joined forces and combined their unique individual skills to create a rewarding, impactful, and fun patient advocacy practice. Nicky Wik has a long history working on the administrative side of healthcare, learning the business of medicine...

Claudia is a clinical pharmacist by training and patient advocate by passion. After over a decade of working inside the healthcare system, she faced her father's cancer diagnosis and later passing. This experience provided her with a deeper understanding of how difficult it is to navigate our modern healthcare system. She decided to do for others what she did for her father and founded Peace...

In this episode of the Patient Advocacy Now podcast, we sit down with Sandra L. Washington, founder of the C.H.L.M.S. Medi-Helpz Foundation, an organization committed to patient advocacy and empowerment. Sandra L., with a background in public policy and healthcare administration, shares her journey and the impetus behind her advocacy work. Motivated by the tragic experiences of losing two sisters...

In this episode, Dr. Nancy Taylor discusses her journey into patient advocacy, stemming from her background as a pharmacist with a passion for personalized healthcare. Dr. Taylor emphasizes the importance of pharmacists as patient advocates and highlights her transition from behind the pharmacy counter to independent patient advocacy, driven by a desire to establish deeper connections with her pat...

In this short preview we share some snippets of the exciting interviews we have in store for Season 2 of the Patient Advocacy Now Podcast 

In this episode we take a look back at some of our most memorable moments from our inaugural season of the podcast and even get a bit of a sneak peak of what's to come in season 2. 

In this episode of the Patient Advocacy Now Podcast, Terry McLellan, a seasoned patient advocate, shares her journey from nursing to becoming an independent patient advocate. Her transition was fueled by her experiences as a travel home health nurse, where she identified a significant need for patient advocacy, particularly among older individuals in RV parks. This realization, coupled with the ch...

In this podcast episode, we sit down with Emily Bernstein, who shares her journey into patient advocacy. Emily's advocacy work began when her mother was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2019. Her mother's challenging path to diagnosis and treatment inspired Emily to get involved in helping others navigate the complex healthcare system. Emily's experience as the eldest daughter and her...

In this episode, we talk with Sylvia Reisman, whose passion for patient advocacy began in 1998 when she was researching treatment options for her father who was a five year survivor of stage III pancreatic cancer. ​In 2006, she became mysteriously ill and ran from doctor to doctor, consulting with a long list of specialists in multiple states before  finally being properly diagnosed with Lyme Dise...

In this Season 1 finale, we speak with Ilene Corina, a patient advocate with over 25 years of experience. Ilene shares her personal journey, which began with the tragic loss of her three-year-old son after a tonsillectomy due to medical errors. This heartbreaking experience motivated her to become an advocate for patient safety. She also highlights her work with various communities, including thos...

Adriane Carrier is an advocate for social justice and health equality with a diverse background in healthcare. In this episode, we discuss her journey from activism during the HIV AIDS crisis in the 1980s to working as a registered nurse and eventually pivoting to becoming a private, independent patient advocate. Adriane highlights her experiences in dealing with healthcare policy, regulatory comp...

In this podcast episode, we sit down with Tina Hurley, a board-certified physician associate with extensive experience in vascular surgery, acute care medicine, and wound care. Tina’s medical career involved treating diabetic patients and performing amputations, until she herself became an amputee. This exciting interview reveals Tina’s journey from medical professional to amputee, and eventually...

Meet Morgan Kelley, a patient advocate based in Chicago who uses social media to educate people about healthcare and health insurance issues. Morgan discusses how she leverages platforms like TikTok to reach a wide audience and provide education on health insurance terminology and how health insurance works in practice. She shares personal stories about her experiences navigating the healthcare sy...

In this conversation with Molly Crowther, a board-certified independent patient advocate based in Berkeley, California, we trace Molly’s unconventional background in the software industry, where she worked on large systems, into the field of independent patient advocacy. Molly goes over her unique journey from the software industry, explaining her background in engineering and project management a...

Debby Deutsch is a Board Certified Patient Advocate who entered healthcare as a hospital chaplain before she became a devoted and passionate hospice worker. As is often the case for Independent Patient Advocates, personal and professional experiences collided, and Debby started to explore her future. She stumbled upon the Center for Patient Partnerships at UW Madison where she earned a professiona...

This highly personal conversation reveals how Deidre was inspired by GOD to help others understand their personal medical journeys and how to collaborate with their healthcare team. That spiritual inspiration led Deidra to begin a patient advocacy business, Your Healthcare Nurse Advocates . Her team of specialty nurses are all certified patient advocates who serve as the patient’s trusted advisor,...

This is the story of a rural EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) who made the career decision to become an Independent Patient Advocate after his young daughter’s misdiagnosis. Jeff Byars is a Board Certified Patient Advocate (BCPA) in Cullman, Alabama. Like so many professional advocates, Jeff knew the healthcare system from both sides. Not only was he a first responder for 30 years, he also worke...

A social worker and nonprofit agency Director for many years, Avrom Fox was inspired to enter into patient advocacy because of his daughter, who was born with special needs. He advocated for her fiercely for 44 years, since the day she was born, and he fought insurance companies to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in denied claims. Today, she leads a life of meaning and quality. Avrom event...

Rebeka Acosta is the mother of two teenagers born with congenital illnesses. Having worked in hospital systems and for a large insurance company, while caring for the complex medical needs of her family, she took took the leap into Independent Patient Advocacy. Today, she’s on a mission to prepare generations of patients and families to be informed health consumers, by providing free health naviga...

After decades as an ICU nurse where she bore witness to the failings of the healthcare system, Karen Mercereau, RN, iRNPA made a defining decision that laid the groundwork for the field of Independent Patient Advocacy.  She left clinical nursing to focus her attention on developing a new practice model designed to safely guide patients through the challenges of a broken system. As a pioneer and ed...