I help people navigate the medical system, discover options, and choose better caregivers.

What I Do I help people discover their healthcare options, with a core focus on orthopedic, trauma, cancer, and rare disease diagnoses. For clients, I navigate the medical 'system,' translate doctorspeak, and help find options so they can make better-informed decisions. I help decipher complex medical terminology, explain procedures, and analyze potential surgeons. Clients who understand their rights, specific treatment paths, and alternatives become empowered. Knowledgeable patients can take more control, be happier, and are more likely to get better care. As a medical device specialist in the operating room, I worked with more surgeons from a broader array of specialties than any physician I know. I've learned many things, primarily that everyone will need help guiding their healthcare at some point. Most find learning about their health condition and treatment options challenging. But with some insight and direction, we can identify better caregivers and make better decisions. Each step can reduce stress and can make difficult situations easier. I don't have all the answers, but I usually know who to call. I continually expand and refine my network of Board-Certified Patient Advocates. We have complementary and overlapping skills to assist client needs across various specialties and geographic ranges. My Story I had eye surgery and awoke blinded, both eyes covered, and my arms strapped at the elbows. I was five years old. No one told me I would awake blind and bound. I learned early that a lack of information can be torturous. Information is power; it lets you know your likely outcomes better, make better decisions, and get the care you want. My biggest takeaway during my first surgical case as a spine consultant was, "Why did this patient choose this surgeon?". The doctor's specialty was hips and knees. He was dependent on me to walk him through each of the surgical steps. He thanked me for my expertise, and I had almost no experience! That moment was a catalyst for my becoming a patient advocate. I realized that intelligent people, comfortable researching items that are important to them, quickly grow frustrated when trying to analyze the skill, experience, and patient outcomes of potential care providers. When evaluating a refrigerator, car, or new neighborhood, reliable data on user-friendliness and reliability of consumer items, comps on home prices, and ratings of area schools are readily available. But when we search for the best surgeons, reliable, actionable data is elusive. Search results consist of advertising and publicity hype. Beyond social media reviews, which are highly suspect, you'll find no negative information about a surgeon online. This lack of data can lead to poor decisions when picking caregivers. We may ask someone about the surgeon they select. They might say a variation on what I've heard many times: "My surgeon was terrible! I stopped going to physical therapy. It was a total bust!" Hearing that, we can easily miss that our friend failed to do the physical therapy prescribed for proper recovery. As a result, we may write off the best surgeon in 5 counties and never know it. Or, like the patient in my first solo case as a spine consultant, we might walk into a hip and knee surgeon's clinic and authorize them to fuse our neck, never knowing that their surgeon recently decided to start "dabbling" in spine surgery. Or, we may go to the cardiovascular surgeon who we are thankful for saving our lives and ask them for a knee surgeon referral. We'll get a referral, but it will be that surgeon's friend or someone in their medical group. What's wrong with that? Unfortunately, no surgeon has the time or ability to keep up with the surgical outcomes of other doctors, let alone those in different specialties. What I've seen professionally and personally as a brother, son, husband, father, and friend compelled me to become an independent patient advocate. Let's discuss how I might be able to help you.

Care Coordination

Care Planning

Care Transitions