Tag Archives: Health Insurers

Chronic Diseases are expensive medical conditions even with Health Insurance

Posted on April 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

MAW PPP January 28 2013

I get asked this question many times by friends and acquaintances. They care a great deal about me and can’t understand how my Crohn’s Disease has so badly damaged my financial “health” when all along the almost 30 years of my journey with the disease I have maintained my Health Insurance. This is what I tell them when I try to explain.

The “Reasonable & Customary” Health Insurance Financial Gap

Any Chronic Disease such as Crohn’s Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (“IBD”), which are also incurable with autoimmune components, can create ongoing needs for medical care, expensive drug treatments, unpredictable or emergent hospitalizations and possibly several surgeries. While having Health Insurance is BEST, people don’t typically understand that in an ideal setting the Health Insurance Company may pay 70% of the cost of what they deem to be “reasonable and customary” for any of the aforementioned medical costs but there may be also be a significant “Deductible” which has to be met before that Seventy (70%) Percent of Reimbursement kicks-in. Moreover, what Health Insurers deem “reasonable and customary” in St. Louis, MO, for example, may be vastly different from the actual charges in New York City, for example, but these geographic cost adjustments are typically not made by Health Insurers and that could leave a rather large FINANCIAL GAP in the “Charged Amount” which the Patient will have to pay, in addition to the Thirty (30%) Percent balance.

“In-Network” Treatments – Divergence of Financial & Medical Patient Interests

The basic financial fallout is different when the Patient sees an “In-Network” physician but these days there are usually Health Insurer prerequisite “variables” attached to that AND, more importantly, the more complicated your case of Crohn’s or IBD, for example, the more reason you need to see a well-renowned Medical Specialist (as these doctors see more of such cases and thus are better prepared to help you). But these specialty or more experienced doctors increasingly do not accept ANY Health INSURANCE. Since these “Specialists” are in such high demand due to the proliferation of chronic, auto-immune and incurable diseases, they are not lacking for patients and thus do not have to rely upon Health Insurers to increase their patient clientele. Additionally, these Specialists can utilize their unique positions to focus on simply practicing medicine and helping patients as opposed to being the CEO of a Medical Practice which must employ several office workers just for the purposes of facilitating Reimbursement from Health Insurers. I say that with the utmost respect for these medical professionals because if most had the choice they would opt to be the scientists they trained to be in medical school so they could help heal patients.

While it is ALWAYS in the Patient’s best financial interests to see an “In-Network” medical professional when they have Health Insurance, those interests may not align with the Patient’s medical interests in complicated cases of chronic disease or even in diagnosing cases of Crohn’s or IBD, for example, due to their almost individualized symptoms and often difficult to recognize initial manifestations.

Out-of-Pocket Costs of Alternative and Holistic Medical Treatments

Many patients with incurable chronic diseases like Crohn’s Disease are also increasingly turning to “Alternative” treatments or organic foods to combat BOTH their disease and any medication side effects and/or the stress which accompanies their chronic patient journey. Short of minor acupuncture and psychological benefits, Health Insurers understandably are reluctant to get fully behind these “holistic” approaches because in many instances what works for one patient does not work for another. That “individualized efficacy” does not make for prudent general Reimbursement rules. Furthermore, the providers of these alternative treatments are typically not “objectively” or traditionally “credentialed” such that the Health Insurers cannot readily trust their medical expertise in having in-network physicians refer or recommend patients to them. Yet, many Crohn’s Disease patients, for example, swear by these alternative, holistic and organic treatments but they must pay for them out of their own pockets.

Effects of Accumulation of Medical Debt w/ a Chronic Disease

In my case of having Crohn’s Disease for almost 30 years, the “accumulation” of these aforementioned 30% fees, Balance Bills, Specialty Physicians and Alternative Treatments has created substantial medical credit card debt. This aggregate financial burden is common amongst people battling chronic disease and often leads these patients to seek bankruptcy protection in order to reorganize their financial lives. However, this can be a tricky proposition as these patients may wind up having debts written off by medical providers with whom they must have an ongoing relationship due to the chronic nature of their disease. But, there are ways to “negotiate” fair resolutions to these situations since bankruptcy no longer carries with it such a negative stigma and medical professionals are more understanding of the effects of chronic medical debt so long as the patient is candid and upfront with the medical professionals. (Please see my Video Interview with a prominent Bankruptcy Attorney regarding “Bankruptcy Options for the Chronic Disease Individual.”)

Incurable Chronic Disease & NEW Promising, but Expensive, Drugs

In addition to the above VERY BASIC analysis, the cost of NEW and more promising Crohn’s Disease medications, for example, is usually extremely high and Health Insurers typically don’t cover a significant portion of their costs until said medication becomes more widely accepted. These newer medications might also come with side effects which, in some instances, could turn out to be as painful, disabling and expensive as the chronic disease itself. I am going through this at moment with severe respiratory problems which began after I started using one of the “Biologic” drugs which typically help MANY Crohn’s Disease patients. It seems there’s no way to tell who these new drugs will help and who they will harm but it is a chance many, if not most, patients with incurable chronic diseases are all too willing to take due to the lack of effective treatment options and the mere chance of an improved lifestyle.

One Chronic Autoimmune Disease may lead to Another

Many Crohn’s Disease patients, for example, on the more severe “spectrum” of what is a “broad spectrum disease,” often develop secondary auto-immune diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, etc. and that begins an almost duplicate “journey” through the Healthcare system causing the patient to incur all of the aforementioned expenses albeit for a different disease. Additionally, years (or, in some cases, just months) of taking certain effective drugs can also create serious (and expensive) medical problems which must also be addressed such as Hip Replacements (from taking the drug Prednisone) or, for example, repeated hospitalized bouts with Pancreatitis from taking immunosuppressant drugs.

Multifaceted Cost of being Disabled from a Chronic Disease

Finally, and please understand that the foregoing is a simplified analysis of a complex problem which has individualized components and can be affected by a variety of variables, the disabling (and unpredictable) nature of many chronic diseases prevent the patient from consistently working and earning a living. Depending upon the severity of the disease and/or the frequency of chronic disease flare-ups, the inability to consistently create cash flow worsens the effects of continually accumulating medical debt. Additionally, besides the disabling physical effects of chronic disease exponentially compounding its financial effect, the feeling of “helplessness” caused by ravaged personal credit ratings and constant medical creditor dunning notices can lead to depression. This depression is real and understandable given the realities of a life constantly battling these types of pervasive chronic diseases on a multitude of fronts.

For the chronic disease patient, knowing that you will, at one time or another in the future, have to continue seeking expensive medical treatment combined with the physical uncertainty of your ability to work is almost like literally adding “Insult to Injury.”

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Posted in Auto-Immune Disease, Chronic Illness, Chronic Illness Debt, Crohn's, Crohn's Disease, Health Insurance, Health Insurers, IBD, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Managing Medical Debt, Medical Bankruptcy, Medical debt

Tagged Auto-Immune Disease, autoimmune diseases, balance billing, Bankruptcy, Chronic Illness, chronic illness debt, Crohn's, Crohn's Disease, deductibles, depression, Disability, disabled, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, IBD, In-Network Physicians, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Medical Bankruptcy, Medical Bill Bankruptcy, Medical Debt, Michael A. Weiss, out-of-network physicians, Rheumatoid Arthritis

Music is Good Medicine for Chronic Illness

Posted on October 18, 2012 | 1 Comment

“Patients like us, [Baby] we were Born to Run…to the Bathroom!”

@TravisSMcClain – Crohn’s Disease patient & Twitter Pal

Saying living with a chronic illness like Crohn’s Disease can be difficult is as mendacious as many of the 2012 Presidential political claims. In that regard, I woke up this morning with intermittent excruciating joint pains which alternated from my wrist to finger to shoulder, finally settling, in of all places, my left heel. I felt like a Senator John Edwards Voodoo Doll being pricked by former Vice President Dick Cheney. I was also battling extreme shortness of breath due to some “inflammatory” lung condition which has hospitalized me many times and even forced doctors to once put me on Chemotherapy for a few months. That sounds rather intense but Crohn’s and chronic illness have caused many strange and serious medical conditions for me over the past 30 years. But today I was supposed to hear back from a Durable Medical Equipment (“DME”) company about purchasing a Nebulizer so that I could have “breathing treatments” at home as per my compassionate Pulmonologist and thus could stay as far away from hospitals as possible. Call me crazy but expecting that Nebulizer created an almost Christmas-like atmosphere in this Jewish “Household.”

The Nebulizer

The outstanding issue and reason for the DME callback was the amount of reimbursement from my health insurer because I’m broke and I knew I’d already hit my 2012 out-of-network benefits deductible of $7,500.00 so it should have cost me very little out-of-pocket. Naturally, a polite woman from said DME company called me just as I had comfortably arranged my painful body parts on my couch, to tell me, my insurance company told her, I had not reached my 2012 out-of-network benefits deductible, so the DME folks required a credit card. Before capitulating to her, the kind DME woman gave me the very useful health insurer “reference number” so I could follow up with the brain surgeons who handle customer service at my health insurer whose name rhymes with “Moo Boss.”

I was exasperated at the level of incompetence of the 1^st-level customer service people at my health insurer, and I was desperate, so I borrowed a credit card from my Mom, who isn’t exactly on “Easy Street” at 77 years of age having to use most of her bare bones “golden years” “nest egg” to care for her 49 year-old disabled son. Because of Crohn’s Disease, that disabled son is me and I’ve been denied Social Security Disability twice and now have an attorney who is handling the Appeal but he has told me I must wait another 12-14 months for a Court Date for said Appeal. Money is not flowing in this “Household,” so the Christmas-like atmosphere faded fast, once credit card reality set in.

Dealing with Health Insurer Moo Boss

As soon as I finished giving the DME woman my billing and mailing information, I called my health insurer and quizzed the Moo Boss customer service person about my 2012 out-of-network benefits deducible and even gave her the aforementioned DME reference number. This Moo Boss customer service person was so confused by the meticulous details that she got nervous and tossed me up to her supervisor. Moo Boss supervisor person confirmed my belief about having already met said deductible and promised to call back the DME company so that my Mom’s credit card would not be charged. I waiting 10 minutes and called myself, just to make sure. Glad I did because the DME company was getting ready to charge my Mom’s credit card as Mr. Moo Boss evidently has poor communication skills. More specifically, there was a “failure to communicate” and some inertia was required to reverse the status-quo, as it always is. I was thankfully able to do that and the Nebulizer is on its way and I will be balanced-billed for what Moo Boss doesn’t pay. Granted, my blood pressure probably rose with each phone call but in a strange way that seemed to power me through the pain of having to move off the couch to get a pen and paper to jot everything down to “protect myself” from further Moo Boss failures in communicating.

Social Security & Public Assistance

Before I could even think about enjoying my breakfast bowl of Fruit Loops and soy milk, my Social Security Disability attorney then called me to answer an SOS email I had sent him when I got frustrated the other day trying to apply online for “Public Assistance” as I have no means of paying for ANYTHING as I wait the 12-14 months until I hopefully get declared “Disabled” and start receiving Social Security Disability benefits (along with a separate check dating back to when I first became disabled.) You see, being trained as an attorney and being detail-oriented, I couldn’t complete the online Public Assistance application because it was asking for the financial income and assets of my “Household.” If the “Household” definition included my Mom, I would be denied ALL Public Assistance benefits because even her meager monthly Social Security benefits would catapult us out of Mr. Mitt Romney’s “47% of Americans” who are apparently mooching off the government when they should be “movin’ on up, to the east side, to that deluxe apartment, in the sky….”

My lovely Mom

Seriously, I thought it was unfair to be required to include my widowed Mom’s monthly income in assessing MY need for Public Assistance because we are separate adults and it is MY Crohn’s Disease which is disabling ME. In any event, because she is my Mom and a compassionate and generous person, her monthly Social Security checks are already being eaten up when she pays for my monthly prescription drugs, frequent hospitalizations and unpredictable doctor visits. She is doing all she can but that helps me merely SURVIVE and her much appreciated sacrifice comes at the harsh cost of compromising her own quality of life.

It makes me sad to think of our situation because in addition to being my Mom’s adult dependent due to my medical disability, the overall result is that we are also BOTH completely financially handicapped. Therefore, I think it is unjust to include her financials in assessing my need for assistance (and thus counted toward the determination of my “Household”) when she has no legal obligation to support me but can’t imagine me living in a cardboard box with no private bathroom! In summary, I don’t want to misrepresent our situation or run afoul of any laws pertaining to how these Public Assistance eligibility tests are determined. Accordingly, I was hoping my attorney could clarify things so that I could quickly apply for even Food Stamps given that I have absolutely no income and only exorbitant medical bills.

My Smart Attorney

My attorney is a smart, experienced and compassionate man but he told me that as long as my Mom helped me with “extravagant” things such as food, shelter and the Sunday night opportunity to entertain myself watching “The Good Wife” on her television, she was part of my “Household” and I thus would not qualify for ANY Public Assistance. I countered with the logic that this government policy made no sense because, as a result, my disability would be affecting, and possibly ruining, two lives, instead of one. He told me I was crazy to think that logic would be persuasive with bureaucrats.

I asked him what to do for sustenance and minimum amounts of money to pay for my prescription drugs and he told me I’d have to wait 12-14 months for any government assistance. We bantered back and forth for a few minutes sounding like an old “Abbot and Costello” routine, with me making clear my frustration was with the “system” and not with him. He wished me good health and good luck until the next time we spoke. When I hung up the phone, it hit me that he could not help me with my immediate need to qualify for some type of Public Assistance. I realized that I’d have to use my legal talents, when I am healthy enough to do so, to find some case law or unique interpretation regarding the definition of a “Household” within the context of applying for Public Assistance in my state. I will do that, but with impending Cataract Surgery next Thursday and me doing everything I can to stay out of the hospital for my breathing difficulties and severe joint pain, I don’t know when that will be. Said Christmas atmosphere was now, all but gone.

The Boss wakes me up

Before I tried to organize my painful body parts to move off the couch, as one, toward the kitchen to my waiting “Breakfast of Champions,” I actually felt the weight of the frustration and disappointment I had experienced, all, by 10:00 AM. At least I had the Marines beat by experiencing more disappointment before breakfast than most people go through in a week! I wanted to cry but that train left the station years ago when liquid tears actually came out of my eyes when I got so sad. I’ve just become too good at dealing with adversity and tears don’t come easy. So with nothing else to do but head toward the kitchen and possibly more disappointment if my Mom had purchased the “store brand” of Fruit Loops, I turned on the television. For some reason, getting immersed in someone else’s fictitious life helps me escape mine and I imagine that’s why I turned on the television at that precise moment. Evidently the channels had been surfed furiously before my Mom shut the television last night (i.e., she fell asleep on the remote control and caused many buttons to be depressed simultaneously) and when the TV turned on, the “Palladia” Music Channel was playing. I was about to channel surf myself until I saw, what I thought I had heard, namely, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band playing Live before a crowd in New York City. It was the 30^th Anniversary of “Born to Run” and if my memory was accurate, I remembered I had attended that show with my best friend.

Mighty Max Weinberg keeps me up!

The song “Land of Hope and Dreams” was playing and my Mom was simultaneously calling me into the kitchen to eat breakfast but watching Bruce Springsteen was mesmerizing and trying to keep pace with the Mighty Max Weinberg on drums proved impossible. Yet, the task had “my body smiling” and I was quickly forgetting about Moo Boss and the Public Assistance definition of a “Household” as I tried to anticipate the next song. It was “American Skin” [41 Shots] and I love that song so I just stayed on the couch and let the music soothe my soul. It sounds like a cliche but that’s exactly what The E Street Band did to me this morning. I would have never thought that watching a cool and beautifully sounding concert at 10:00 AM would suffocate a BAD Crohn’s day but that’s what music can do. The great Brian Wilson of Beach Boy fame has been right all along, “Add Some Music to Your Day.” Then I heard the beginnings of “Backstreets” and the joint pain seemed to go away as I tried to again keep pace with Max. Then “Darkness on the Edge of Town” affirmed what I was doing, exactly how I was doing it. It was like the Band was talking to me and making me feel like “everything’s gonna be all right” just “have a little faith.” My mind was controlling my body and I started to feel so much better that I even enjoyed “Lost in the Flood.”

Unraveling the effects of years of Chronic Illness through Music

I recorded the rest of the concert so that I could eat my breakfast while I watched. I was generally familiar with the Set List so I fast forwarded to “Jungleland” and I was so intensely thinking about the lyrics that I had created a pleasant diversion and was so far away from customer service incompetency. “Light of Day” was next and after “jammin’ with the Band” to finish the song, I literally felt as if I had enjoyed myself too much so I stopped the recording and turned off the television and tried to go back to the couch to eagerly await my Nebulizer and upcoming Cataract surgery. It’s amazing how years of battling chronic illness can condition the mind to apportion and enjoy only a certain amount of joy and happiness because it almost trains the patient to expect bad news or painful feelings just around the corner. But this morning I let music overtake me and I just went with the flow and tried to carry my new sense of calm with me as I took on the rest of the day.

Let’s just go “Racin’ in the Streets“

Unfortunately, my enlightenment was interrupted by confirmation calls from the eye surgeon and then by dunning calls from medical creditors but I would not lose sight of the fact that I had learned something significant today. Music, just like narcotic painkillers, can soothe pain and really take you away from your problems; albeit temporarily. But Music is a much healthier “medical treatment,” it’s always available, it comes in so many different forms and it’s not addictive. After a few more mundane frustrations of the day, I took my own advice and made it down to my computer and listened to my favorite song by Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, “Racin’ in the Streets.” The Live Extended Version is a beautiful juxtaposition of Professor Roy Bittan’s magical fingers on the piano and Mighty Max Weinberg’s “feel” for pulsating and intensifying the mood, when need be, but always in synch with the rest of the Band, and especially with the maestro piano player, Roy Bittan.

Thank you – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band

I’ll never forget today’s “musical medical illumination” because the way I feel when I listen to or watch members of The E Street Band use their respective individual musical talents to create this sound is simply Good Medicine.

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Posted in Auto-Immune Disease, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Coping Strategies, Coping with Crohns, Crohn's, Crohn's Disease, Crohn's Disease Mainstream Awareness, Crohnie, Disability, Health Insurance, Health Insurers, Inspiration, Living w/ Chronic Illness day-to-day, Managing Chronic Illness, Managing Chronic Pain, Music as Medicine

Tagged "born to run", autoimmune disease, Bruce Springsteen, bruce springsteen and the e street band, Chemotherapy, Chronic Illness, concerts, Crohn's, Crohn's Disease, Crohnie, Crohnies, Disability, disabled, durable medical equipment, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Healthcare, IBD, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Max Weinberg, Michael A. Weiss, Music, Racin’ in the Street, roy bittan, Social Security, the e-street band

Basics of ObamaCare & RomneyCare Medicare Plans

Posted on August 24, 2012 | 6 Comments

Before getting into the “Basics,” please understand that President Obama is NOT raiding Medicare for $716 Billion as has been alleged by Messrs. Romney and Ryan.

President Obama’s Plan is, at its core, a Cost-Savings Plan, based on benefiting from fixing the Gross Inefficiencies associated with all of Healthcare. In that regard, Healthcare Providers have agreed to accept less payment for their services and that cost-savings of approximately $716 Billion will be put back into Medicare to keep it operating AS IS for another 8-10 years. This was orchestrated as part of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “ObamaCare.”

Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and his Running Mate Paul Ryan are proposing a very different Plan. They propose a Medicare $ Voucher, or $ Subsidy, which will be a Fixed Dollar Amount. It WILL NOT affect current Seniors but will come into effect in 10 years as Baby-Boomers begin to turn 65 years-of-age and choose to retire. The Cost-Savings is in the determination of the Voucher’s Fixed Amount. This Video describes the BASICS of each Plan.

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Posted in Medicare, Medicare Deficit, ObamaCare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama's Medicare Plan, Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's Medicare Plan, Seniors

Tagged $716 Billion, Baby-Boomers, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Healthcare, Healthcare Insurance, Medicare, Medicare Deficit, Medicare Vouchers, Mitt Romney, Obama, Paul Ryan, President Obama, Romney, Voucher System, Vouchers

eBook – “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient”

Posted on June 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

Personal Candor of my Medical Book makes it Funny & more Interesting

Up until only a few years ago, when people began using “Health Care Social Media” (“HCSM”) to help one another with their shared medical maladies, people weren’t publicly “Candid” about their medical conditions for fear of obvious or subtle retribution by their employers or because of insecurities regarding the possible or probable perceptions of their significant Other. Thankfully, the “anonymous intimacy” of Virtual Patient Communities & Social Health Networks, like Crohnology.com, and other patient-preferred HCSM “platforms” has changed that to the point where patients often reveal more important medical details online than they do in the sterile and confidential confines of a Doctor’s office. This seems counter-intuitive but being a patient myself I can attest to this phenomenon. I suspect it is due to the more relaxed “environment” of chatting online while sipping a relaxing glass of wine in comfortable clothes as opposed to coming in from the cold and immediately having to get naked and then change into Patient Gowns, the design of which hasn’t changed since Thomas Jefferson had his first prostate exam.

By the same token, there have been many Healthcare Books written which detail how to Cope with, or Manage, Chronic Illness, but few of them are based on 100% “Real,” “personal” or Candid interactions for these very same, understandable, retribution and insecurity reasons. However, I never bought into these fears because when you have a chronic illness it does not define you; it merely becomes another of your character traits, just like being funny, attractive or hard-working. Therefore, I decided in 2001 to write about the Real account of my trials and tribulations with Crohn’s Disease so that others with a similarly debilitating and painful Chronic Illness could relate to my struggles, both in and out of the hospital. I also thought that a book intending to be helpful to others about these types of particularly dull and niche subject matters should exhibit “personality” and be funny and inspiring so that readers are more likely to remember how, for example, I handled things, both successfully and unsuccessfully. Then readers are more likely to truly learn from my experiences. This was the impetus for me writing the book, “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient,” which was released in eBook format only a few days ago. The eBook Selling Price is $3.47. (The eBook has also been configured to work with Barnes & Noble’s “Nook” device.)

Authenticity is the Ultimate Teaching Tool

Last week, when the “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient” eBook came out, I was trying to figure out what has made the Book so interesting and entertaining to others and an “evergreen” seller since 2001. Well, the other night, while participating in a mental health social media TweetChat, I commented that good Blogs are written by people who make entries that are thought-inspired as opposed to obligatory in nature. For example, people who feel they must blog everyday will eventually lose readers because I think we find Blogs interesting due to how the bloggers describe their handling of anger, frustration, anxiety, fear and other emotions which we all experience. As a result, while Blog entries motivated by these types of common emotions may not be published every day or even every few days, when they are published, their “authenticity” produces interesting content.

During this TweetChat, when I was concentrating on reading and writing about the Mental Health Topics introduced by the Moderator, I realized that I didn’t hold anything back in “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient” because “authenticity” is what I was aiming for since I wanted people to have no doubts as to my veracity so they could relax and absorb the material. It’s like when I taught a class on “Negotiating in the Entertainment Industry” to a group of night students already working in the entertainment industry who were also enrolled in this special “Media MBA Program” partially funded by their respective employers. The first night of class I told the 50 or so students that unless I felt the following rather generous grade policy was being abused, everyone would be getting a semester grade no less than “B” because my goal was to TEACH them about “Negotiating in the Entertainment Industry” and I thought the most effective way to do that was by having them not worry about grades so they could simply sit back, listen and LEARN. Without realizing it at the time, I think I used the same approach in my Book and it seems to have worked.

Mainstream Reviewers – “laugh out loud funny” & “wonderfully inspiring”

When “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient” first came out in July, 2001, I was shocked at how well it was received by the mainstream Press since it was about the niche and seemingly “dry” subject matters of Crohn’s Disease and Chronic Illness. But readers/reviewers of the Book consistently commented that it was “laugh out loud funny” and “wonderfully inspiring.” That made me feel fantastic because if THEY liked it, I knew my fellow “Crohnies” and Chronic Illness comrades would learn a great deal from my experiences. In that regard, I have received from these chronically ill folks (and from their families) at least one communication a week since 2001 thanking me for helping them, inspiring them or in many cases, for changing their lives. To continue to receive notices like that is an honor I can’t even describe other than to say they make having written the Book an incredibly rewarding experience, of which I will always be proud.

As these mainstream reviews were published, I somehow got on NBC’s “Today Show” and my Book was seriously “taking off.” Publishing public relations agencies then began calling me me about how they could get me on television shows like “Oprah” and “Larry King Live.” I eventually gave in to one of them so I could at least seek those rather lofty and once-in-a-lifetime goals. Long story short, the first thing I did was what they called a “Radio Satellite Tour” during which I gave phone interviews about the Book to the leading morning drive-time radio shows in key cities across the United States. We started in the East Coast at 7:00 AM EST and I sat by my phone until 1:00 PM EST as we gradually worked our way across the country to morning drive-time radio stations in California. Some radio interviews were also taped for broadcast later that week. However, it didn’t much matter in the end as the radio interviews all took place on Monday, September 10, 2001, one day before the world changed and “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient” would become the least of anyone’s pressing morning radio topics to discuss. All in all, it was a rather humbling experience to go from possibly appearing on “Oprah” and CNN’s “Larry King” to returning to being a full-time Entertainment Attorney, in the span of 24 hours. While I was initially disappointed in the opportunities I lost, I quickly “turned the page” (pardon the pun) and focused on nothing but the people who tragically perished in the events of 9/11 and the brave men and women in the Armed Forces who would be risking their lives to defend my freedoms for years to come.

“Your Mom CAN’T read my Book – it’s too Personal!!!”

A funny recollection I have of marketing the Book and appearing on a variety of National and Regional Network and Cable Television Shows had to do with my girlfriend at the time. I hadn’t yet met her Mom but meant to as soon as I had a free moment. That gives me the creeps just writing such an arrogant excuse but I had made plans to meet her Mom several times but unfortunately had to cancel them as I never expected my Book to get the amount of widespread Press Coverage it received and I had to take advantage of it. Thankfully, my girlfriend was very understanding and supportive but she was also very excited for us to meet. In fact, she was so enthusiastic about it that she had her Mom purchase my Book in advance of our 1st scheduled dinner meeting. She also told me this as we drove to her Mom’s house and I got so embarrassed because all I could think about was her Mom knowing all about my battles with Chronic Illness and Crohn’s Disease. Worse, she would learn about all my embarrassing personal details revealed in the Book. I was squirming in my car just thinking about what would be going on in her Mom’s mind as she met me and probably scrutinized my suitability for her beautiful daughter. As we got closer, my girlfriend just laughed and said something to the effect of: “It’s so funny that you are paranoid about what MY Mom will think after reading your Book when you’ve already discussed the most intimate details of your life on the “Today Show,” MSNBC and radio stations all across the country.”

I’ve learned over the years that my then-girlfriend’s point that day in my car about her Mom is a major attraction of “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient” as it’s really a true and authentic depiction of my life and my funny, sad, poignant, embarrassing, inspiring and frustrating battles with Crohn’s Disease and Chronic Illness. Damn the torpedoes!

Click here to purchase Paperback - “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient”

Click here to purchase eBook - “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient”

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Posted in "Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient", Chronic Illness, Colitis, Coping Strategies, Crohn's, Crohn's Disease, Crohn's Disease Mainstream Awareness, Crohnie, Crohnies, eBook, Empowered Patient, Funny, Health Care Social Media, Health Insurance, Health Insurers, Hospital Patient, Hospital Patient Experience, Hospitalizations, Hospitals, Journey to Correct Medical Diagnosis, Laughing, Listening to Your Body, Living w/ Chronic Illness day-to-day, Managing Chronic Illness, Nurses, Professional Patient, Professional Patient Book

Tagged "Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient", "Health Care Social Media", Chronic Illness, Crohn's Disease, Crohnie, Crohnies, Funny, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Healthcare, Hospitalizations, Hospitals, IBD, Michael A. Weiss, NBC, Nurses, Patients, Physicians, spoonie, spoonies, Surgeries

Health Care Social Media (“hcsm”) – Its Potential & Power

Posted on May 24, 2012 | 3 Comments

The cool thing about the Web, Mobile Stratosphere and Social Media is that no-one owns them and no one ever will. Health Care Social Media, or “#hcsm,” as it is known on Twitter, combines the different Healthcare Social Media Web/Mobile “platforms” and devices such as Twitter, Facebook, Portal Websites, Blogging, Applications, YouTube Videos, Podcasts, Smartphones and Webinars with often instantaneous global connectivity and growing virtual communities made possible by the Web and Mobile technological environments. The constant emergence of new platforms and devices and an increase in the global use of these technological environments for healthcare purposes makes the potential of hcsm limitless. Moreover, hcsm will always be defined, refined and influenced by the patients, healthcare professionals, medical school students, teachers, executives and attorneys who use it. In that way, hcsm will forever remain an ever-changing medium of valuable virtual communities, different usages and individual expression. This makes hcsm both an effective Tool and an invaluable Resource for the diverse healthcare industry end-user. But much like pre-Game Batting Practice in Major League Baseball, hcsm end-users have different needs and go about servicing them in different ways.

Some Major League baseball players use pre-Game Batting Practice to show off their strength trying to hit every pitch into the home run bleacher seats just as some in Healthcare use hcsm to simply market their wares damn whatever self-promotion complaints they are berated by. But other ballplayers have great reverence for Batting Practice and treat it as an opportunity to simulate In-Game Live At-Bats and/or Live Situational Hitting. This latter usage of Batting Practice by ballplayers, by analogy, is how many experienced patients and Web-savvy health care professionals value hcsm. They see it as a way to share (or gain) knowledge and experience with (from) others.

However, even within that seemingly wide spectrum of hcsm end-users, there is a divergence of underlying rationales regarding the value, potential and power of hcsm. In fact, some factions within the healthcare industry seem to act proprietary over hcsm or even privileged towards it, yet, as stated above, no one owns it. This Blog Post, written by a chronic patient, addresses the unlimited potential of hcsm and theorizes that these differences in the perception of hcsm are caused by both generational factors and a new interpretation of the fast-evolving Doctor-Patient Relationship. If these differences can be replaced by a more collaborative spirit, hcsm can be a Game-Changer in Healthcare Reform.

The “hcsm” TweetChat – the Best “60 Minutes” on Sunday night

It starts out at 9:00 PM EST like any other TweetChat with people calmly introducing themselves and also explaining their healthcare industry interests; both, in fewer than 140 characters. It is fascinating to see doctors of almost every discipline, patients with various experience and differing attitudes, nurses, pharmacists, hospital administrators, drug company executives, health attorneys, medical school students and the like from all over the country eager to participate in this democratized “Conference” of sorts. Then, as the introductions speed up in anticipation of the professionally prepared Moderator introducing Topic 1 (of 3), you realize the TweetChat is actually comprised of medical professionals and hobbyists from all over the world.

There are definitely “Regulars” like myself who somehow manage nearly each and every Sunday Night to block out reality and step into this virtual world of such distinguished, passionate and dedicated folks but there are also “Lurkers” who simply watch and learn. What are they watching? They are observing some very smart and wise people who care deeply about the current and future state of healthcare trying to type as fast as possible to populate the #hcsm Twitter Feed with their insightful nuggets of information and experience so that their contributions are duly noted, possibly re-tweeted and hopefully expanded upon. At the same time, we are all genuinely interested in what our colleagues from a few continents away are writing about as they start their tomorrow or are just ending their work day. Therein lay the physical and mental challenges posed by what I like to refer to as the best “60 Minutes” on Sunday night.

Regardless of the night’s discourse, I am always amazed at the ever-increasing amount and diversity of people who attend each and every week. I mean, Sunday night at 9:00 PM EST is usually reserved for the beginning of the upcoming work week’s “Sunday Night Blues.” Instead, it now marks the start time for this “Think Tank” of renowned healthcare industry brethren playing this game of “type, read or re-tweet.” There’s no tangible benefit to participating in the #hcsm TweetChat. It’s just pure mental stimulation for the purposes of someday soon making a difference in an industry or in just one (1) patient’s life. It’s a humbling experience seeing virtual relationships being formed all over the world over mere thoughts and expressions. You don’t know where it’s going, and you don’t know what each night’s Topics will be, but you know you don’t want to be late and miss anything.

Talking ‘bout my Generation

I always try to represent a strong patient voice during the #hcsm TweetChat and it always strikes me how the younger folks (I’m 49 years of age) are so eager to look at things from a patient-centric and technology-driven perspective yet, in my reality, as a 30-year chronic patient, these great intentions are almost always over-ridden by the problem at hand. In that sense, we tend to regularly get into an intellectual debate about the role of education in the Practice of Medicine and I always state that I don’t want to be educated by my doctor; I just want to be treated. Many TweetChat members mistake my ostensibly short-sighted position as me not wanting to know what is going on with my health when I converse with my doctor but that’s not the case. I blame this misunderstanding on the 140 character limitation of Twitter and how it makes me lean on assumptions probably too much because I assume it’s a given that everyone wants to know what’s wrong with them. I just don’t want to place more job responsibilities on my physician whose plate is already full due to the intensive administrative paperwork necessary to merely seek financial Reimbursement from my Health Insurance Company. Besides, if many physicians also possess teaching skills, their bedside manners would be substantially enhanced and as a patient I’d rather see those teaching skills utilized that way instead of for the purposes of enlightening me about the origins of prostate cancer.

Also, the younger generations of #hcsm TweetChat participants tend to place an emphasis on Medical Practices making it a priority to not only have a Social Media Policy but to also consistently “publish” Content on their websites or on other hcsm platforms to help educate their patient populations. As a patient always appreciative of such efforts (and I applaud these aspirations), I nevertheless am against holding my physician ALSO accountable to various Publishing Standards. Sure, they could hire someone to create these materials, and many do. But I’d prefer these extra staff focus on patient pharmaceutical financial assistance or disability programs if the medical practice treats patients who are chronically ill and often become disabled and financially strapped because of their medical costs. As for the establishment of a Social Media Policy, I am convinced this will be necessary in the very near future but I seem to constantly have experiences with top-notch physicians who nevertheless have problems with their Telephone Call-Back Policy! Again, I applaud the idea and intention but in reality, and at this place in time, I’d prefer to see all resources used to enhance patient care.

I think it is a generational issue and I commend the younger folks for starting out with such patient-centric plans, but I want my health care professionals to simply treat me. I don’t want to learn how my situation stacks up against that of other patients and I don’t want my doctor taking time out of being on the “cutting edge of treatment” to publish a rather innocuous article, for example, about the symptoms of Crohn’s Disease which, given the professional, ethical and legal limitations he or she is up against, turns out to be no more than a marketing piece, despite the best of intentions to help patients. Maybe my simplistic perspective is due to the nuanced-filled complications of my chronic illness (i.e., Crohn’s Disease), but my doctors always seem so busy with one emergency after another that I just don’t understand when they would have the time to act as educator and publisher on top of being a doctor, which these days means more staff, more administrative work and higher malpractice premiums, all for less money than doctors typically made Ten (10) years ago. Let’s face it, these days, it’s tough being a Patient or a Doctor.

The Evolving Physician-Patient Relationship

I think the different perceptions of hcsm which indicate its more limited usage and potential are still held by intelligent, informed and dedicated healthcare professionals but these folks don’t account for the fast-changing Physician-Patient Relationship which is evolving every second, of every day, of every year, thanks to Social Media and to the Web/Mobile technological environments. Sure, mutual respect is still a mainstay in that relationship but mutual trust implies a familiarly between the two parties and with economic decisions increasingly forcing patients to “work their health insurance plans” and choose In-Network physicians, that trust often doesn’t get enough time to develop because employers could conceivably change their policies annually as premiums are raised. Thus, many Physician-Patient relationships only last as long as the policy makes financial sense for the employer. As a result, many employees are forced to change Internists or Gate-Keeper Physicians on an almost annual basis.

Alternatively, what I see more of in my experiences as a patient since the evolution of hcsm is “Collaboration” between Physician and Patient. This Collaboration seems to be a direct result of the opportunities for e-patients to learn more about their conditions and treatments via hcsm prior to their real life encounters with their doctors. This is making healthcare “transactions” more efficient and therefore more productive. Perhaps e-patients are more experienced because, like me, they must battle some type of chronic medical condition. That said, not all doctors are cut out to treat chronic patients as that necessitates an on-going relationship as opposed to the occasional “stop by” patient each time he or she has a problem. It’s not dissimilar to a man or woman more comfortable in casual relationships than in monogamy.

Similarly, patients must understand that someone touted as a great doctor might not be the right one for them, especially if they have a chronic illness. Likewise, doctors must now be more careful in picking their patients because the needs of a chronic patient are much different than those of a normal patient with occasional medical problems. Accordingly, once a healthcare end-user accepts “Collaboration” as an integral part of the “new” Physician-Patient Relationship, the potential of hcsm comes more into focus since the basic and driving healthcare relationship is now more “democratic” than ever before.

Power of hcsm to help Reform Healthcare

In the beginning stages of hcsm, I read many stories about how patient-formed business ventures on the Web couldn’t possibly succeed without the inclusion of a medical professional as its focal point. I always laughed at that because people of this opinion never understood the uniquely useful value in a Virtual Patient Community such as Crohnology.com, which makes Crohn’s Disease patients feel comfortable enough to share and be candid about their experiences in an environment comprised of only similar patients. What medical professionals did not realize is that with the advent of hcsm many patients now feel more comfortable talking about their symptoms with other patients on a preferred hcsm platform as opposed to talking with a doctor in the sterile environment of a Medical Practice when the doctor must quickly assess the situation so he or she can move on to treat the next patient.

Strangely, the intimacy of the doctor’s office has in many instances been replaced by a virtual “room” of people with similar medical problems. Thankfully, some very smart medical professionals listened to their patients and picked up on this and the power of virtual organized patients is now recognized and the necessary inclusion of medical professionals in Web business ventures is no longer the prevailing business theory just as “Return on Investment” or “ROI” is being abandoned as the short term touchstone for success of hcsm business ventures. There’s just no precedence to rely upon to make any realistic ROI forecasts.

At its core, hcsm is no more than a grassroots movement which, due to its timing, has been powered by technology such that it is now an influential worldwide phenomenon. In that regard, there are active hcsm affiliates in many countries throughout the world including, but not limited to, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Austria, Canada, Europe, India, Latin America, Sweden, France, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. With Social Media objectives that are no different than that of the Entertainment and Music industries, hcsm strives to make Healthcare more: personal; readily available; user-friendly; efficient; and profitable. In doing so, these virtual hcsm patient interactions are becoming more intimate and patients are noticing by becoming more comfortable and candid.

This combination of intimacy, candor and commonality amongst virtual patient communities will soon make real-life Healthcare “transactions” more efficient, more productive and less expensive. After all, a patient with more tried and tested medical knowledge makes for a smoother and faster customer and that enhances the quality of real-life Healthcare transactions. Participation in hcsm provides patients with this type of “seasoned” information and that will also make their exchanges with medical professionals more efficient. The benefits of these time and quality patient efficiencies will eventually grant more people the opportunity to afford healthcare insurance to then obtain the medical treatment they need. This may seem like a rather attenuated connection but hcsm is quickly becoming relied upon by patients as one of their foundations when they seek medical treatment. No-one ever thought people would trust the Web with their banking needs but now people from all walks of life are conducting secure banking transactions with their cell phones. The benefits of technology are finally creeping into patient care and if banking is any barometer of its acceptance, hcsm will soon be a formal part of Patient Treatment Plans.

As hcsm becomes a part of everyday life and, like banking, there are television commercials praising its ease, even with a cell phone, the multifaceted interests of patients, doctors and hospitals will then merge because of hcsm. This alignment of interests will form a formidable foe for the Health Insurers who, ironically, have no interest in efficiency and increased productivity for fear each would reveal the GROSS inefficiencies which have kept them “in power” for so long. It’s no secret Health Insurers want to maintain the status-quo otherwise a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry would not be operated via handwritten doctor notes and medical records. So hcsm, no matter how it’s used, will organically negate the Health Insurers’ oil cartel-like business practices and then regardless of one’s perception of the power of hcsm, it could be that Game-Changer we’ve all been waiting for in our pursuit of Healthcare Reform.

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Posted in Health Care Social Media, Healthcare Reform, mHealth, Mobile Health, Patient Technology Tools, Tweetchats

Tagged "Health Care Social Media", 60 Minutes, Collaboration, Collaborative, Crohn's Disease, Crohnology, Doctor-Patient Relationship, Doctors, HCSM, hcsm TweetChat, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Healthcare, Hospitals, mHealth, Patients, Physicians, practice of medicine, Reimbursement, Social Media, TweetChat, Virtual Patient Communities

In-Network Doctors – Quantity over Quality

Posted on May 16, 2012 | 1 Comment

Last Friday, I went for an annual Ophthalmology “check-up.” Since my Eyes are not my primary medical concern and I’m broke from all my other medical problems, I decided to “work my health insurance plan” to find a doctor and, in the process, take my own advice. Mind you, while Crohn’s Disease and my Gut are to me what Kryptonite is to Superman (if you have never heard of “Crohn’s Disease Man” you just aren’t reading enough comic books), my Eyes are nevertheless of vital importance to me. Moreover, the auto-immune aspects of Crohn’s Disease have been known to affect the Eye so it wasn’t like I was going to see a Podiatrist or a Psychic and could thus roll the dice. In that regard, I apologize to all the Psychics out there for comparing you to Podiatrists.

Tolerating “Quantity over Quality” from In-Network Doctors

More seriously, I have learned to merely “tolerate” my Insurance IN-Network Doctors based on my present experience with an Endocrinologist who has more satellite offices than he does office staff such that it takes 3 weeks to get a Prior Authorization for an MRI of my Pituitary Gland. I am STUNNED he calls himself a Doctor and not a Medical Businessman. I haven’t terminated our relationship yet because I’ve had a hard time finding another endocrinologist in my insurance plan who can see me within six (6) weeks and, anyway, at this point in our relationship he is merely accumulating test results and my Bookie could basically do that. However, I will change endocrinologists when interpreting said test results becomes of paramount concern and a long-term treatment strategy must be devised.

Since I am seemingly caught in this weekly vortex of needing to be treated by one medical specialty doctor after another, I don’t have the energy to take the appropriate consumer “stand” with each disappointing health care transaction I encounter. However, despite my medically dominated day-to-day life and the numerous disabling medical issues I must contend with, there was something so outrageous about my recent encounter with this Eye Doctor that I had to “fight back” if only to show this doctor that the BS he is pulling with other patients can’t be pulled with me (and shouldn’t be pulled with the other patients).

Do you “take,” or “participate in,” my Health Insurance Plan?

You see, I had to find an eye doctor who would not only evaluate my vision but also assess the various eye ailments I’ve experienced because of my chronic illness. In that regard, a trusted family member of mine recommended this particular eye doctor because he was very kind to her and had solved her then-pressing medical problem so I checked to see if he was in my health insurance plan. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was IN FACT, an “In-Network” Physician Provider. I point out this distinction because patients get fooled all the time when they call a doctor and ask them if they, for example, “take Green Cross of Boston Health Insurance” and the $12 an hour receptionist says, “Sure, the doctor ‘participates’ in practically all health insurance plans” or “the doctor ‘accepts’ all health insurance plans.”

You may not realize it at the time but “magic words” are exchanged between patient and medical receptionist during such a conversation and medical practices have been profiting off of the resulting misunderstanding with the same ease of off-shore oil drilling companies obtaining licenses to drill for oil under President Bush’s administration. The medical receptionist technically said nothing wrong because saying the doctor “participates” or “accepts” all health insurance plans when asked if the medical practice “takes” a certain health insurance plan is like pulling into a gas station asking if they “take” the local town Entertainment Discount Card and expecting a great bargain if they do. The gas station guy would say they do “accept” the Entertainment Discount Card but the rub is the extent to which he “participates” in, or “accepts,” the local Entertainment Discount Card plan.

The Financial Ramifications of Healthcare “semantics”

For instance, the gas station guy might smile and take the Entertainment Discount Card Coupon but after you fill up your gas tank for $49.00 he will come back to the driver-side window and tell you the total is $44.00. “But I thought you ‘accepted’ the gas coupon from the Entertainment Discount Card?” you ask. Still smiling as if he’s a regular Saturday night dinner guest at your house, he says, “I do, and I deducted $5.00 off your total, so all you owe me for filling up your car with gas is $44.00.” That’s exactly what happens in healthcare when the words “participate” and “accept” are misunderstood. Moreover, medical practices exert zero effort to correct patients from relying upon these magic words. But we patients have no-one but ourselves to blame because the only phrase of any financial significance is “In-Network Provider” because then the most you can pay for an Office Visit is your “Insurance Co-Pay.” With my current insurance policy, that is $30.00 for an “Office Visit” and $50.00 to see a “Specialty Doctor;” however, I have yet to see an Office Visit which they classify as anything but an office visit with a “Specialty Doctor.”

Having been burned many times before by the aforementioned health insurance “take/participate/accept” semantic BS, I was legitimately impressed that my Health Insurance Plan had this particular Ophthalmologist in its Provider Network of Doctors given the rave reviews he had received from someone whose opinion I respected. Since my Co-Pay is $50.00 to see In-Network Specialty Doctors, I was going to get a full Eye Exam and Overall Consultation for no more than $50.00. Looking back on it, I should have realized that when something sounds too good to be true, it invariably always is. There are a few exceptions to this age-old axiom but you usually wind up marrying them and I have yet to be so lucky to meet the woman of my dreams. In any event, when I walked into this new Ophthalmologist’s office last Friday what I encountered SO DISTURBED ME that after the Office Visit I decided to ask for my money back.

How to be a Medical Patient Consumer

Rather than bore you with additional details as to why I felt so ripped off as both a Patient and a Consumer by this Ophthalmologist, I have pasted below the EXACT Fax I sent to him on the following Monday, which he responded to within one (1) hour by reversing the $50.00 Co-Pay charge to my American Express Card. In short, I felt like a patron at a trendy restaurant with a Server who starts walking away from me while I’m still ordering as if he knows how to complete my sentences and what I want for dinner that evening. The Server seems more interested in maximizing his tips by “turning the table over” rather than in ensuring that I have a pleasurable experience. In the restaurant setting, I can tolerate such behavior because I don’t have to jump through too many hoops to find the joint and after all, it’s common to have a “one-off” experience.

If I wind up having a bad consumer service experience, I’m also always aware of the “buyer-beware” credo and I can easily “complain” by never going there again. I can also tell all my friends about how rudely I was treated and I can even write a scathing Yelp Review or share my bad experience on some other social media platform. These common sense remedies notwithstanding, I think it is just as important to take the time to compliment a new restaurant or business via these same consumer tools when the experience is positive. We all seem to have more time to complain and protest to get our money back than we do to compliment or praise a business or service when it provides exactly what it advertises. That’s just human nature and when we spend our hard-earned money and in return get a bad experience we tend to be more “motivated” to do something about it even if that is to simply ease our minds. But I do try to keep my complaints and compliments in balance and I think my Yelp profile can attest to that.

But these consumer remedies are not as effective when it comes to our Health because there’s simply too much subjectivity involved with the healthcare transaction and the “time spent” vs. “proper treatment received” quotient doesn’t leave much room for a grave error or a disconnect. Accordingly, while an arrogant abrupt physician to some can simultaneously be touted as a highly skilled and confident physician to others, the time invested in developing a new doctor-patient relationship gone wrong can feel like the most squandered of wasted time.

“Quantity over Quality” In-Network Doctors with some Exceptions

Ironically, in the middle of writing this Post I went to see an In-Network Surgeon for a Consultation as I need rather serious surgery to repair Crohn’s Disease-related damage in my Intestine. It may have been the most thorough examination I’ve ever experienced as this doctor focused on me and my case until he and I were both satisfied that we had all of our questions answered. By agreeing to operate on me, he was telling me that my problem was now his problem and I left his office SO relieved. Perhaps it was the combination of the precise nature of his surgical specialty and the seriousness of my surgery which warranted such individualized treatment, but I have found the recent increase in Insurance In-Network Doctors clearly creating a “quantity over quality” atmosphere. I can only imagine this trendy restaurant-like atmosphere to be a byproduct of the unreasonable provider reimbursement amounts and the allotment of shorter and shorter patient time constraints placed upon them by both our overall healthcare system and by the rules of being an In-Network Provider; the Network of which many Provider Doctors are forced to join simply for cash-flow purposes.

“Turning over patients” seems to be the name of the game in these types of practices. It is quantity over quality; “LA” instead of New York City; Kathy Griffin over Louis C. K. The question then becomes: What to do about it? I decided to articulate my grips in a respectful letter to the aforementioned Ophthalmologist asking for my money back and in the process I hoped he “gets it” so that the quality of the medical services he renders to other patients in the future gets better. Below is that redacted copy of the fax I sent him [underlined and bold emphasis left in].

The Redacted Ophthalmologist Letter seeking Refund

As an experienced Patient, and a complicated one at that, I was deeply disappointed in the Ophthalmology medical services you provided to me on Friday, ————, and as I result I am reversing my $50.00 ——————– Insurance Co-Pay Charge with American Express (if charged; if not yet charged I am respectfully requesting that you do not do so) and I respectfully request that you mail to me my Medical Records you and your staff generated on ————-. My address is —————————————————————. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

For the sake of explaining my actions and for the purposes of hopefully preventing this from happening with other patients, set forth below are my specific Complaints. In summary, I just need my Doctors to be reasonably thorough and reasonably comprehensive given how pervasive my Crohn’s Disease has been and you clearly were not. But, it is nothing personal. Candidly, I think it is a byproduct of the ridiculous and unreasonable time constraints you are placed under by Health Insurance companies which in effect unfairly place your emphasis on “turning over patients” like waiters in a trendy restaurant instead of treating each patient with the time and focus warranted by each individual patient and case. Nevertheless, I need more attention focused on the health of my eyes given that my Crohn’s Disease has already had a significant effect on my eyes. In that regard, I must now see another Ophthalmologist for the same reasons I went to see you and therefore I would appreciate you not charging me for the ————————— Office Visit/Exam or not contesting my reversal of said charge when/if it appears on my American Express Card. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

The Specific Patient-Consumer Complaints

I completed your New Patient forms in reasonable detail explaining the Cataract Surgery, Eye Sores, Extreme Crohn’s Medication Side Effects and Dry Eye I have experienced as a result of my Crohn’s Disease yet you merely confirmed the Left Eye Cataract Surgery and told me I have a Cataract in my Right Eye but that I shouldn’t worry about it. That gave me no gauge whatsoever as to the status of that right eye Cataract considering that my Los Angeles, CA Cornea Specialist told me 3 years ago that I must watch that right eye CAREFULLY. You did not even inquire about the eye sores or the Dry Eye and both are often symptoms of Crohn’s Disease and in my case they were so EXTREME to the point where I had CUTS in my eye that were so painful I almost had to be hospitalized. As for the Dry Eye, I had some type of ducts inserted into each eye yet you did not inquire about Dry Eye AT ALL.
I spent more time with your cordial Vision Technician than I did with you and that concerned me given the complexities explained above and given my current exacerbating problems regarding Reading up-close. I was worried that my chronic illness might be somehow affecting my vision (as my Crohn’s is apparently active and wreaking havoc inside my Intestines as I am awaiting a surgical date to have FIVE (5) Strictureplasties performed on me) yet I was “run through the mill” that you have established at your practice and while that may be perfectly fine for normal patients it doesn’t work for me. I also asked this Vision Technician several questions which she had no answer for and I also had to remind her several times to check the prescription on my Sun Glasses as I was not sure when I had them made. She was very nice and professional but she went through my exam like she was completing a checklist fixing a car’s Transmission rather than treating ME as a Patient. I don’t blame her at all; I have no one other than you to blame because she should not be placed in a position to answer questions which necessitated answers from an Ophthalmologist.
When you gave me the eye exam and I complained that my right eye was VERY blurry from the dilation eye drops yet my left eye seemed fine, you said I shouldn’t worry that the vision you were demonstrating for me in that right eye wasn’t the best possible vision I could achieve with a prescription. To that end, I still don’t understand how you were able to almost perfect the vision in my left eye with the manipulation of the different lenses in that machine but never came anywhere close to providing me with decent vision in my right eye. Considering I have a small or “beginner” Cataract in that right eye, have experienced all of the above related to my Crohn’s Disease and what I set forth in the New Patient Forms, your answer to my repeated question about this was unsatisfactory.
I also told you after you were done examining me that I was having serious problems reading the newspaper and you told me that you were surprised by that statement based, I imagine, on the eye examination you had conducted. Then, in response to my statement and in an attempt to help me, you had me go back to the prescription “machine” and you held up a sign close to the machine for me to read to test my reading vision. However, your hand was not steady and the sign moved and that just added another variable to figuring out what my correct reading prescription is because I couldn’t focus on the answers to your questions regarding what was on the sign but you did not seem bothered by it. You then put the sign down and changed my reading glasses prescription. I asked how you knew what prescription to write and you simply answered: “I made your reading glasses much stronger.” ???? With all of the complexities that must go into figuring out the correct eye prescription, what does “much stronger” mean and how did you arrive at that exact prescription? Moreover, had I not insisted that you please make sure my reading vision was optimized; you would not have changed a thing.
I asked you about the right eye Cataract and again you gave me a “wishy-washy” answer by telling me “not to worry about it.” Given the almost 20 major surgeries and 200+ hospitalizations I have experienced due to my Crohn’s Disease, I must worry about it because what can go wrong with respect to my health, always seems to go wrong. This is all not even mentioning that I developed, and had surgery for, a Cataract in my Left Eye in July, 2007, when I was 44 years old and was told it was directly due to my Crohn’s Disease because I was too young to be developing a Cataract. I was also told at the time that I had what appeared to be a Cataract in the right eye but that it was too small to operate on – at that time.
Then you walked out of the Exam room leaving me on the chair and I thought you were either coming back in or having another vision technician come in as I still had questions regarding the prescription to my Sun Glasses. Then, after waiting a few awkward minutes in the exam room chair, I walked out of the exam room and asked someone to check my sunglasses. The Vision Technician who had conducted a variety of tests on me was kind enough to take them from me and she then checked them.
I also recall always having drops placed in my eye to reverse the dilation drops because my eyes are SO SENSITIVE to Dry Eye and whatnot but that was not done and I forgot to ask. As a result, I had trouble seeing clearly for at least FOUR (4) hours after I left your office.

Dr. ——–, I could go on and on but it is not my intention to be unreasonable or vindictive. The whole experience simply reeked of an office trained to “turn over” patients rather than to TREAT THEM and I cannot entrust my health and well-being to such a Doctor. That said, I am acutely aware of the harsh realities of our current healthcare system and I do sincerely understand the ridiculous reimbursement and time constraints you are up against but nevertheless I do hope you take this letter in the spirit in which it was written. That is, to explain my actions and to provide you with some feedback so that you can make some changes to provide a better quality of care to your future patients since you certainly seem like a smart doctor with the best of intentions. Additionally, I do not think it is fair that I should have to pay for my eye exam with you since I must now go to another eye doctor for the same thorough and comprehensive eye examination I was seeking.

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Posted in Assertive Patient, Doctor Patient Relationship, Doctor Ratings, Doctors, Empowered Patient, Health Insurance, Health Insurers, Informed Patients, Patient Consumers, Patients as Consumers, Physicians as Service Providers, The Empowered Patient

Tagged Chronic Illness, Crohn's Disease, Crohnie, Crohnies, Doctor, Doctors, Endocrinologist, Eye Care, Eye Doctor, Health Insurance, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Healthcare, In-Network Provider, Insurance Co-Pay, Medical Patient Consumer, Ophthalmologist, Ophthalmology, Patient Care, Patient Complaints, Patients, Physician, Physicians, Specialty Doctor

Saving Money by “Working” Your Health Insurance Plan

Posted on April 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

Having Health Insurance these days isn’t good enough. You must know how to “Work” your Health Insurance Plan to best maximize your preferences and financial expenditures.

**This Video is a summary of a Chapter in the upcoming eBook, “Chronic Illness: Truths, Tales and Tips” by Michael A. Weiss. The eBook is set to be ready for distribution during the Summer, 2012.

Mr. Weiss is also the author of “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient” presently available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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Posted in Dealing with Chronic Illness, Doctor Patient Relationship, Empowered Patient, Health Insurance, Health Insurers, Informed Patients, Managing Chronic Illness, Professional Patient, The Empowered Patient, The Medical Minute

Tagged chronic, Chronic Illness, coverage of diagnostic tests, coverage of physician visits, Empowered Patient, health, Health Insurance, health insurance benefits, health insurance coverage, health insurance deductibles, health insurance plan, health insurance plans, health insurance premiums, Health Insurers, in-network benefits, insurance insurers, maximizing health insurance benefits, medical, medical insurance, out-of-network benefits, saving money on health insurance

Impersonalized Medicine for Chronic Illness Patients

Posted on April 14, 2012 | 3 Comments

(This Blog Entry is excerpted from a Chapter in the upcoming eBook, “Chronic Illness: Truths, Tales & Tips” written by Michael A. Weiss)

Interacting with my Pain Management Doctor

I was moved to write this Blog Entry because of a phone conversation I recently had with my Pain Management Doctor during which I told him I was exceeding my monthly dose of narcotic pain medication and I needed more medication prior to our upcoming appointment in two (2) weeks. Patients who routinely see Pain Management Doctors can attest to the tremendous anxiety which builds up while making this phone call especially after you’ve committed to taking less narcotics and getting off them completely during recent appointments. That anxiety rises to the level of making you feel like a complete schmuck when you’ve documented this pledge of narcotic abstinence in a Video you posted on the Web which has been viewed by many similar situated patients around the world! But, as I’ve learned with my case of a chronic illness, you can’t predict the future and lately mine has been a shit storm of one painful major medical catastrophe after another such that I’ve had to postpone my genuine pledge to reduce my monthly intake of narcotic pain medications.

My doctor is very compassionate toward my plight and he doesn’t doubt my veracity regarding these recurring medical tsunamis because I always fax him details of each situation (i.e. specialty doctor names, diagnostic test results, etc.) which could impact the management of my pain. But during this phone call and within the context of looking out for my best interests, he unintentionally scared me a bit when he explained how repeated patient “violations” of regular monthly amounts of narcotics (i.e., repeatedly calling and asking for more than were prescribed for a given month) will eventually raise red flags with health insurers and soon these bureaucrats might go over his head and make me “defend” my medication requirements. I remarked that the logic in this potential bureaucratic practice of medicine seems to run contrary to the sacrosanct nature of the Doctor-Patient relationship because any red flags should be first noticed by my doctor and thus he or she would speak to me about them and I would have to change my behavior accordingly. But since my poor genetic makeup, bad luck and auto-immune chronic illness have been causing one painful nightmarish medical problem after another, shouldn’t the documentation approved by my health insurer of the NUMEROUS specialty doctor visits and diagnostic test results make my absolutely necessary pain medication request beyond scrutiny by this same health insurer?

My doctor assured me that he understood my frustration but this is where he believes the practice of pain management is headed and I need to be mindful of it. His point was duly noted, we agreed to discuss this matter further during my next appointment and he prescribed a specific amount of medication to adequately treat my pain until our next appointment. After I thanked him and hung up, I thought of the following question which I should have asked him but I sensed he was busy and needed to accommodate my request and then move on to another of his daily responsibilities: “When I saw you on March 1^st and your prescribed a certain amount of monthly medication for a painful Crohn’s Disease flare-up I was having, how was I to know that this flare-up would escalate so substantially by March 12^th that I had to take more pain medication per day AND around the same time I began experiencing such severe pain in both breasts and nipples from some unrelated but serious medical problem that taking a shower made my chest feel like a broken-down dart-board and this sometimes added further to my pain and required even more daily pain medication?”

Documenting Complex Medical Problems for Doctors & Insurers

I thought I had “protected” myself from the aforementioned understandable scrutiny when after seeing my NYC gastroenterologist and going for the variety of diagnostic tests he ordered, I faxed every result to my Pain Management Doctor. Moreover, when one of those diagnostic tests revealed that the “dart-board pain” was likely the result of my body having NO testosterone, I faxed that to him as well. At this same time, at the bequest of my NYC gastroenterologist I rushed to see an Endocrinologist for the testosterone problem and he sent me for even more tests because my blood levels revealed a startling lack of testosterone. This new “in-network” Endocrinologist was so concerned with my “dart-board” pain that he also prescribed a hormonal drug to help offset that pain. He also indicated I had to go for additional diagnostic tests to check my Pituitary Gland as a possible source of the problem. However, within 2 or 3 days of taking this new drug to fix the “dart-board,” my body reacted violently and my already painful Crohn’s Disease flare-up got even worse that being hospitalized was a distinct possibility because I could barely control the pain. As a result, I had to discontinue the medication and I also faxed all of this information to my Pain Management Doctor.

While I am still battling the testosterone problem, my NYC gastroenterologist believes it is due to the massive amounts of Prednisone I had to take last summer to treat a life-threatening lung condition (i.e., “B.O.O.P.”) I contracted from certain Crohn’s Disease medications I had taken for a few years. However, the four (4) months of taking 60 MGs of Prednisone each day did not ease my B.O.O.P. breathing problems and I had to then endure a four (4) month course of Chemotherapy but I knew all along of the potential short- and long-term problems associated with taking such potent drugs. Thankfully, my breathing is better due to the Chemo but it has made my Crohn’s Disease much worse, albeit hopefully temporarily, and now I have a painful testosterone problem likely from the Prednisone as a consolation prize for the Prednisone not working on the B.O.O.P!. Call me crazy, but I couldn’t possibly predict these problems and given that I have substantiated each and every aspect of what I am going through to try and alleviate the pain so that I can finally move forward, I don’t like having to defend or explain why I need more pain medication when there are many days I can’t get out of bed because I am in agony. I know my Pain Management Doctor will understand once I have the opportunity to remind him of all I am going through but I get worried that health insurers are getting too hands-on and that a cursory review of my primary Crohn’s Disease case will not accurately reflect the pain I must live with on a day-to-day basis. Given the possibility that the lingering effects of both the aforementioned Chemotherapy and Prednisone may never abate, I am also worried that these complications will never be given their due deference in evaluating the severity of my medical problems.

Living with the Chronic Illness, Crohn’s Disease

In my almost 30 years living with Crohn’s Disease, I have learned that the pain it causes varies depending upon the type of Crohn’s flare-up AND the genetic makeup of each patient. I am not qualified to comment about genetics other than to say I wound up with “used car”-like genes but from LOVING PARENTS. In that regard and based on how difficult my life has been because of my Crohn’s Disease, I would never have my own child for fear of passing along this often horrific illness. That’s the bad part about my “inheritance” but the good is that my parents also passed along some great genes which have made me compassionate, tough and resilient so that I can help others who must live with this often pervasive and devastating disease. They’ve also given me a sense of humor and a whole lot of love. I could not survive without either.

Playing the Health Insurance Game & Working Your Policy

My resiliency and coping abilities notwithstanding, I am beginning to worry about how my increasingly painful and unpredictable Crohn’s Disease flare-ups will be treated by an impersonal healthcare system in which even longstanding doctor-patient relationships are being terminated due to patients being pushed toward unfamiliar in-network doctors who accept lower reimbursement fees from health insurers in exchange for an increase in their volume of patients. Ergo, what was once a relationship-based service industry is now strictly a bottom-line business. Unless a patient is wealthy, due to financial constraints and the alluring option of seeing their inexpensive in-network doctors, patients can no longer afford to see their familiar physicians who know them best. This sense of unfamiliarity has a disproportionate negative effect on people who suffer from chronic illnesses and who thus come to rely upon their physicians to maintain some semblance of a quality of life. In any event, by the time the new in-network doctor is brought up-to-speed, the patient’s employer has likely changed insurance companies to save money and the patient has to choose a new in-network doctor all over again.

I’ve tried to “work my insurance plan” in this in-network manner but my case of Crohn’s Disease is so complex (and now even more so because of the Chemotherapy and Prednisone problems) that I always wind up back with my New York City gastroenterologist who either identifies the problem and/or finds an answer because he sees more Crohn’s patients than most other doctors, he’s a very experienced gastroenterologist and he is also very smart (as not all doctors are smart just like not all lawyers are smart). That said, my unique case of Crohn’s Disease has cost me so much money over the years because each time I’ve tried to use an in-network gastroenterologist I’ve had a bad or nightmarish result because he or she lacked the expertise, experience or smarts to handle my situation. More specifically, I went from having MY SPECIFIC CASE OF Crohn’s Disease treated by the NYC doctor to having A CASE OF Crohn’s Disease treated by a local gastroenterologist who could recognize it on an x-ray and could spell it correctly but beyond that, the proscribed treatment never took into consideration my almost 30-year case of Crohn’s which has necessitated over 200 hospitalizations and approximately 20 surgeries.

Another threat to a patient’s choice of physician can occur when the patient’s disease or situation requires such “personalized” care that it raises red flags with health insurers because such treatment is either not within their normal or typical boundaries of care or the treatment required to care for that specific patient is more expensive than the care required for the typical patient suffering from the same ailment (said standards are as determined by the health insurance company). Moreover, that medical treatment solution could be implemented by bureaucrats from the health insurer which will only serve to placate the patient and will not at all address his or her lifestyle, quality of life and it will probably keep that patient in an unfair amount of pain.

Understanding the Severity of Crohn’s Disease

My fear about chronic illness patients receiving impersonal healthcare is because I get the feeling that some doctors, and all health insurers, don’t understand the severity of my Crohn’s Disease and likely the severity of many other chronic illness cases. This makes me worry about my future because my disease can get even worse. What am I to do then? How will it be possible to still get such quality specialized care when I am financially tapped out? Naturally, these are rhetorical questions but they represent issues which are not unique to me so I find it therapeutic and simultaneously helpful to others to identify them for contemplation by writing Blog Posts like this one.

Bowel Obstruction Pain

Thanks to late night television commercials and general stigmas, many people think Crohn’s Disease is all about diarrhea, bowel control (or lack thereof) and mal-absorption issues. What comes across in those ominous television commercials is fear about losing control and possibly having to defecate in the middle of a business meeting or on romantic date and there is not much mention or imagery of the disabling severe pain caused by the disease. In my experience, not only is the pain severe but it is also unpredictable and that adds another element to trying to manage it. It is unpredictable in terms of its timing, duration and intensity. Typical Crohn’s severe pain involves inflammation at any point of the digestive track but predominantly in the intestines. This swelling of the intestinal walls reduces the diameter of the “pathway” for food and gas to get through the body until eventually the narrowing of the pathway becomes completely occluded and a Bowel Obstruction occurs. The cramping pain of food and gas trying to nevertheless pass through this intestinal roadblock is VERY painful. It’s no help that the body’s natural process of peristalsis to move everything down (and out!) the pathway also kicks in and it adds pressure and intensity to that pain.

Experienced doctors and patients have described Bowel Obstruction pain to be similar to that caused by Child-Bearing Labor pain. If you are lucky, the inflammation of the intestines subsides and you can avoid surgery. But that can take days or weeks of lying in a hospital on steroids. It can also become life-threatening if the food and gas threatens to perforate or break through the intestine because then it’s time for emergency surgery. Note: Since Crohn’s is an autoimmune disease, it can cause or enhance painful inflammation in other parts of the body. For example, I have had sores on the cornea in my eyes that have hurt as much as Bowel Obstructions. It is a different kind of pain but brutal nonetheless.

Auto-Immune Gas Pain of Crohn’s Disease

In addition to the above typical Crohn’s Disease Obstructional pain-inducing scenarios, I have learned over the years by keeping a daily food/pain diary that Seasonal Allergies (and certain foods) always trigger unique Crohn’s “inflammatory” flare-ups because of the auto-immune component of the disease. Doctors have never been able to explain this phenomenon to me but if you witnessed it you’d understand why these types of flare-ups are more disabling than any others. I have also noticed that since undergoing Chemotherapy for treatment of the lung condition B.O.O.P., my intestines are much more sensitive and therefore these types of flare-ups are more volatile, frequent and intense. To that point, it has been surmised by several medical experts that when my body is exposed to any type of allergy it responds by attacking itself due to my auto-immune illness. The fight my body puts up is with itself and not with the outside agents causing the energy-draining effects of allergies. It’s as if I have tiny “immune system soldiers” inside me attempting to ward off illness but instead they act more like soldiers from the movie, “The March of the Wooden Soldiers.” When I need these soldiers the most, they robotically march directly into a brick wall exactly like the Marching Band members in the final scene of the movie, “Animal House.” Seriously, the “Animal House” movie scene in which the Marching Band members march straight into a concrete wall and continue to bump into one other and cause chaos in the process is how I envision Crohn’s Disease affecting the operative parts of my immune system which should be limber, dynamic, strong and at least pointed in the right direction!

While I may envision allergies attacking my immune system in a rather humorous manner, in reality it is these effects of the auto-immune component of my Crohn’s Disease (and probably also due to having had many surgeries which have left behind scar tissue and a uniquely shaped intestinal tract) which make me cry from bearing down on the pain and feeling so ostracized by the situation. I caution readers who do not have experience with Crohn’s or other serious illnesses to have an open mind when they read my vivid description of this specific pain and discomfort as even only a few family members have witnessed it due to its completely debilitating, embarrassing and excruciatingly painful manifestation. To start, let’s just say those wooden soldiers inside of me get confused when I’m exposed to allergies and instead of banding together and building up my immune system they do everything but and for some reason related to my Crohn’s Disease the result is an inordinate amount of painful gas quickly building up inside my abdomen.

As this gas builds up inside of me, it stagnates and causes my intestines to become so Grossly Distended that I look like I’m pregnant. Doctors have never adequately explained this to me but the gas either builds up in other parts of my body or overflows into them from my intestines and I start to look like “The Michelin Man.” The production of exponentially increasing amounts of gas stretches parts of my insides and causes excruciating pain. It also comes on suddenly and with seemingly different warning signs each time so I never have been able to anticipate it. During this initial phase I cannot expel gas no matter how hard I try even though that would greatly alleviate the pain. With each body movement I generate more gas or the gas inside me moves and creates a “gas pocket of pain.” A bed is the only place for me and I often must be physically assisted to get to that bed. I then pray I fall asleep and dream about watching the air coming out of the “Macy’s Day Parade” Floats.

“I Love Lucy” & the Fury of Gas Pain

These gas pains move fast and furiously inside my body but for 1-3 days I can’t expel the gas no matter how hard I try. I also become so tired from the combined effects of the allergies and my immune system attacking itself that sleep is all I can do but the painful rumblings inside me make it difficult to fall asleep. It’s like a form of Broccoli torture where your enemy lets you gorge on the gaseous vegetable but they don’t let you fart for 3 days. But around Day 3 of this Crohn’s Disease seasonal allergy torture I begin to expel the gas but my body seems to manufacture it faster than I can expel it. The best way I can describe this seemingly perpetual “gas imbalance” is by suggesting you think of the “I Love Lucy” classic television show with Lucy and Ethel in the “Candy Factory” episode and then imagine those lame immune system wooden soldiers inside me saying to the gas producers: “Speed it up.”

Long story short, each time I expel the gas and release some of the pressure, my rear end hurts in ways I find hard to explain other than it feels like the exhaust from jet propelled engines are being thrust out of my backside. I want to expel the gas to alleviate the gas pains but I dread the fallout pain in my rear end. This sounds funny but it happens to me several times a year and without warning. Around Day 4 expelling the gas becomes easier so the pain above my waist gets better but the gas is still so pressurized coming out of me that my butt hurts as if razor blades were coming out of it. Every time this type of Crohn’s episode happens I feel like a Leper because I don’t know anyone else who experiences it and I can’t be around anyone while I am going through it. I feel as if I am not in control of what is going on inside my body and it scares me. I don’t know why it started and I don’t know when it will end. Taking narcotic painkillers takes a little edge off the pain but soon every 4 hours turns into every 2 ½ hours and 1 pill becomes 2. Crohn’s Disease seems to be different for each patient but when I can’t get some doctors to understand the aforementioned gas pain flare-ups how will I ever be able to convince skeptical, bottom-line oriented health insurers of its severity?

Without a Witness, No One would Understand my Pain

If my Mom hadn’t witnessed all of the above, no-one would believe it. I guess there is a reason why I had to move back home when I began to get so sick a few years ago. I suspect many people with chronic illnesses go through the same types of complex problems which require treatment that is in excess of the norm or different than the norm but personalized medicine for the chronically ill is going to become less available due to health insurers invoking actuary-like limits to the medical treatment of human beings with real and painful medical problems. I worry about such a healthcare system in which the treatment of abnormal medical problems could raise a red flag which takes away the doctor’s power to treat the patient he or she knows best and instead places the treatment responsibility in the hands of insurance bureaucrats who intend to ignore complex personal patient histories and decide what is best for that patient based on statistics of normal cases and, of course, on their bottom line. Healthy people may not feel the effects of this yet but those with chronic illnesses know far too well how it feels to be treated like a number. Our bottom-line: It’s hard to live with a chronic illness these days.

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Posted in Auto-Immune Disease, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Crohn's, Crohn's Disease, Crohnie, Crohnies, Health Insurance, Health Insurers, Living w/ Chronic Illness day-to-day, Managing Chronic Illness, Narcotic Pain Medications, Pain Management Doctors, Personalized Medicine

Tagged "B.O.O.P.", Allergies, Auto-Immune Disease, autoimmune, bowel obstruction, Chemo, Chemotherapy, Chronic Illness, Crohn's Disease, Crohn's Disease Pain, Crohnie, Crohnies, Endocrinologist, Gas pain, gastroenterologist, Health Insurance, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Healthcare, In-Network Physicians, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, narcotic Pain Medications, Pain, Pain Management, pain management doctors, Prednisone, Severe Pain, testosterone

Healthcare Reform = Combination of ObamaCare, eHealth and mHealth

Posted on January 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

ObamaCare is looked upon both positively and negatively as the end-all / be-all of Health Care Reform in the United States. It is politically charged and subject to nationwide debate and likely repeated judicial challenge. However, it need not be divisive as it seems to have actually inspired and triggered other significant Healthcare reforms and Healthcare entrepreneurial advancements via legitimate Free Market Solutions, namely, “eHealth” [Electronic Health] and “mHealth” [Mobile Health]. This Video explains this interesting and ongoing technological development in Healthcare Reform.

This is part of my “Two Minute Drill” Series of Healthcare Videos. The phrase is taken from the NFL, i.e., US Professional Football, and refers to that intense time of the last 2 minutes of the end of the 1^st Half, or of the Game, when teams use a no-nonsense carefully timed 2-Minute Drill to most efficiently move down the field to score points. With Television Commercials, the 2-Minute Drill is often takes 10-15 minutes of “Real Time” and that affords me the ability to still use the phrase when my succinct Videos are sometimes 4 to 9 Minutes in length. I hope you enjoy the Healthcare Content and that it provides you with mental stimulation and creative inspiration.

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Posted in eHealth, Electronic Health, Electronic Medical Records, EMRs, Health Care Social Media, Healthcare Mobile Phone Applications, Healthcare Reform, mHealth, Mobile Health, ObamaCare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Tagged Crohn's Disease, Crohnie, Crohnies, eHealth, EMRs, HCSM, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Healthcare, iPhones, mandates, mHealth, Michael A. Weiss, ObamaCare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Patients, pre-existing medical conditions, Smartphones, spoonies, Telemedicine

How to be a Sane & Healthy Hospital Patient

Posted on December 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

The “Hospital Patient Experience” is challenging to a Patient from a variety of perspectives including physical, mental, emotional and financial. To that end, this Video is a succinct explanation of How-To Survive it and How-to also prosper as a Healthy, and thus, successful Hospital Patient. It is based on my 200+ hospitalizations due to my 25+ year battle with an incurable chronic illness.

The Video is also demonstrative of the practical content contained in my Book, “Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient,” which is available for sale at all major e-taliers.

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Posted in "Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient", Hospital Patient, Hospital Patient Experience, Hospitals

Tagged "Confessions of a Professional Hospital Patient", Chronic Illness, Crohn's Disease, Doctor's Rounds, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Hospitalizations, Hospitals, IBD, Michael A. Weiss, Nurses, Patients, Physicians

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