During one of my CDI projects with a system of about 25 acute care hospitals, the corporate CDI director asked me if I knew of any books or resources for patients that explained how their records were coded and billed - something that basically walked the patient through the complex healthcare system. She thought that it would be good for her CDI and HIM staff and her case managers to have access to such a resource.
I had always relied upon Dr. Ronald Hoffman's basic expertise with healthcare and his book How to Talk to Your Doctor. But even his books did not address some of the issues that are most frustrating to patients. I didn't have the right book to recommend at the time.....and could not have imagined the course of events that would fuel the creation of such a book.About a year later, after my daughter Emmalea was diagnosed with epilepsy and we were not able to control her seizures, I found myself in the midst of a series of such frustrations. Eventually, with perseverence, key contacts, and reliance on how much my husband Joe and I knew about the healthcare system, we found the right healthcare system, physicians, integrative medicine practitioners, and even payment for her care. As I write this blog, Emmalea is almost 3 years seizure free and her physicians continue to lower her medication every six months. Both she and they attribute a part of her success to the integrative health practices she has undertaken as a result of their suggestions - yoga, meditation, and a diet free of processed and refined foods. You may have seen her physician, Dr. Orrin Devinsky from NYU on CNN or one of the other news stations. He wrote several books including Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Epilepsy.
Two years into Emmalea's diagnosis, as things were really beginning to stabilize, Joe and I took a very little sigh of relief. Then we thought about all we had been through and how our own experiences of working in healthcare for 20 years probably gave us a significant advantage in getting the best possible care. Furthermore, we thought about everyone out there who did not have this advantage and wondered what they were doing. That conversation motivated me to write 7 Steps to Your Best Possible Healthcare. The title pretty much says it in a nutshell - but you can find out more on the webpage. There's even a free download of the introduction and the first chapter. In the years since I have written the 7 Steps book, I have spoken to groups of healthcare consumers (just like you and I) at public libraries, rotary clubs, chambers of commerce - almost anyone who was willing to listen! Among chapters on insurance and payment and selecting the right physician, I talk about the medical record, documentation, HIPAA, coding (yes, coding!), and even medical terminology - using sample stories from real patients (I interviewed several and surveyed 2,000 for the book) all while writing in a manner that would be easy for the typical healthcare consumer to understand.
That's a long intro to the purpose of this blog! My publisher has an overrun of about 500 books. So, I am offering a copy to the first 500 people who request a book. I will gladly mail the book to you - just email your request to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I look forward to sharing the book with you, your families, and your patients.
PS I have always been a Dr. Ronald Hoffman groupie. I have listened to his NYC Radio Show for a decade. When he found out about my book, he asked me to be on his radio show! I was like a star-struck teenager - you can listen to the interview on the 7 Steps website.
