CE Webinar: Accessing Medication Patient Assistance Programs by Jerilyn Arneson, PharmD, BCOP

Even the most effective drug is useless if people don’t take it because it’s so expensive. Today’s high prices are pushing more and more patients into nonadherence. Accessing Medication Patient Assistance Programs: Thinking Outside the Box will provide advocates with resources to find free drug and copay assistance programs through pharmaceutical manufacturers.  It will also describe independent 501c3 foundations with disease state funds available to cover copay assistance, insurance premiums and transportation costs. Finally, barriers and solutions to accessing available programs will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify medication patient assistance and support options from multiple major pharmaceutical manufacturers as well as independent 501c3 foundation disease state funds.
• Explain the pathways for assistance to minimize out of pocket expenses for Medicare patients.
• Overcoming barriers to accessing programs and finding contacts to assist with difficult cases.

 Jerilyn Arneson, PharmD, BCOP

Jerilyn is a 20-year oncology pharmacist, helps patients avoid financial toxicity from medications.  After initiating and managing several medication patient assistance programs, she teaches other organizations how to develop their own programs through AltruMed Consulting. Jerilyn is also a Certified Medicare Benefits Counselor specializing in medical billing errors and appeals.

Link to webinar.

Link to presentation.

CE Webinar: Using the Mental Health System Effectively by Ann Moody-Lewis, PhD.

Navigating through a system that is broken takes ingenuity, insight and information. The mental health system must address the complex personal issues that develop with individuals, families, and groups.

Persons who need mental health are often unaware of how to get their needs satisfied. From psychiatry to psychotherapy there is a broad spectrum of possibilities. How do they work together? How do you differentiate what services are needed and how can you can assist clients in their search for peace will be the essence of this discussion.

Program objectives:

Those who attend this webinar will be able to:

• Have insight into the complexities of the mental health system and how to better navigate it
• Learn who part of the mental health team
• How to differentiate what serves to meet the needs of patients/families

Ann Lewis, PhD

Dr. Moody-Lewis is a dynamic mental health counselor, educator, facilitator, and author with thirty-one years of successful experience developing psychological programs, training professionals and clinical expertise. Known lecturer who has received media recognition for clear and innovative thought. Effective communicator with strong skills in relationship development, gender education, conflict resolution and group processing. Possesses an enthusiastic and creative spirit that is committed to empowering others.

Webinar link.

Presentation

Selfhelp resources.

Designing Your Practice: The Healthcare Advocate's Role in Advance Care Planning by Jane Markley, RN, FACHE

This program is designed for professional healthcare advocates to help them incorporate advance care planning into their practice model for the benefit of their clients, their business and the community.  It can be tailored for any group of healthcare professionals who wish to learn how to include advance care planning in their practice.
Objectives:

1. Explain the advance care planning process
2. Identify the benefits of advance care planning for healthcare advocates
3. Identify why advance care planning is critically important to small businesses

M. Jane Markley, RN, FACHE

President, M Jane Markley Consulting, LLC

Jane Markley is a consultant and healthcare ethics advisor with 35+ years’ experience in healthcare. President of M Jane Markley Consulting, LLC, she works with individuals, families, organizations, ethics committees, and healthcare systems to help them understand the importance of advance care planning (ACP) for themselves, their loved ones and their members. A retired Navy Nurse, she is board-certified in healthcare management, trains healthcare advocates; speaks nationally and internationally in ACP; works with individuals and their families to complete their advance directives; facilitates ethics training for medical students as an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, MD, and serves on the Maryland State Advisory Council on Quality Care at the End of Life.

Webinar link.

Presentation.

Creating a Dynamic Website Part 2

Driving Website Traffic

OK, say you have a GREAT website... However, a website is only effective if it has people visiting it. Learn strategies, both on-line (hi-tech) and off-line (hi-touch) that can help boost traffic to your website to increase your business opportunities! You will be provided a list of tools to test and measure your results to ensure you get the best return on your investment for both time and money.

Susan Dakuzaku, XLeration Services

Susan Dakuzaku, Website Ninja of XLeration Services, has been in technology for 40 years but more importantly has focused on helping businesses and organizations create effective websites for over 15. Her website is www.GetYourNetInGear.com

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Susan Dakuzaku: Creating a Dynamic Website Part 1

Your website is your MOST important marketing tool for several reasons.

1. It SHOULD contain all the RELEVANT information that will compel people to call you or take some action that will bring them closer to hiring you;
2. It CAN serve as your on-line receptionist & scheduler, marketing division, sales department, customer service and more (that is, be working as hard as YOU do);
3. It COULD be updated on a regular basis to show current updates, recent success stories and helpful tips WITHOUT much effort from you.

If it is NOT all that, then you need a better website.

During this webinar, you will learn all the qualities of an effective website and how to integrate them so your website can convert more clicks into customers!

Susan Dakuzaku, XLeration Services

Susan Dakuzaku, Website Ninja of XLeration Services, has been in technology for 40 years but more importantly has focused on helping businesses and organization create effective websites for over 15. Her website is www.GetYourNetInGear.com

Click to view webinar.

CE Webinar: What Health Advocates Need to Know about Perinatal Risk presented by Maureen Dempsey

The United States is the only industrialized country in the world with an increasing maternal mortality rate. In this webinar, Maureen will discuss contributing factors to maternal mortality, and how nurses and other maternal advocates can keep mothers safe.
Objectives:

1. List the leading causes of maternal mortality in the United States.
2. Recognize common barriers to appropriate postpartum care.
3. Adopt woman-centered maternity care practices.

About the Speaker
Maureen Dempsey is on a mission to eliminate preventable maternal mortality.  An award-winning speaker and registered nurse, Maureen spent most of her nursing career working on labor and delivery and high-risk pregnancy units. She is an AWHONN intermediate and advanced fetal monitoring instructor and maintains certifications in inpatient obstetrics and electronic fetal monitoring.  Maureen currently works as a clinical case manager for patients with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

Click here for webinar.

CE Webinar: Cancer Journey - Moving Your Client from Panic to Powerful presented by Shariann Tom and Keri Lehmann

The three words, “You Have Cancer,” turn your client’s world upside down.  Panic is usually their first reaction, and while this is certainly a normal response, it can also be counter-productive.  What's worse, it can get in the way of their healing process.

Patient/Health advocates are looked to provide resources and information that will help their clients to manage their Panic – and find their Power.  Today, cancer is viewed as a chronic condition. With the right tools and resources, the patient, their

In this webinar, the speakers will take you through the stages and phases of The Cancer Journey Roadmap with illustrations to give you a sense of the road your clients travel, why the map is so powerful for them, and how you can use it to help them feel more at peace as they move forward on their cancer journey.

Program Objectives:
family, and their treatment team can learn to work together to ensure the journey is safe and meet the needs of the patient in a holistic manner. Their signature map, The Cancer Journey Roadmap, was adapted from Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and is a cornerstone of the process.

1. Learn two points from the Cancer Journey Roadmap which advocates can employ to help their clients feel more powerful and less alone on their journey.
2. List thee tools advocates, nurse navigators, and patients can use to make the cancer journey safe and meet the needs of their individual patients.
3. Explain the rationale of having a cancer coach who can help the patient and the caregiver better understand the journey and meet the challenges they face fighting cancer. 

PACB Domains of Practice that apply to this presentation.

1. Empowerment, Autonomy, Rights, and Equity Element: D
2. Communication and Interpersonal Relationships: E

The Cancer Journey is the first Cancer Coaching and Cancer Coach Training Company in the U.S. With a team of Certified Cancer Journey Coaches across the country. They are passionate about the whole healing of cancer for individuals, body, mind, and spirit. Because they have traveled their own Cancer Journeys, they understand both the challenges and opportunities of living with and life beyond cancer.

Shariann Tom, MCJC, CPCC, BS and
Keri Lehmann, Director of Program Development, CPCC,
Master Cancer Coach and Caregiver

Shariann Tom and Keri Lehmann bring a wealth of experience with 45 years + combined in coaching and coach training.  Shariann offers her own five personal journeys as a cancer patient/survivor along with 20 years of coaching and coach training. Combined with 16 years in Corporate America in business management, sales, and marketing, Shariann has the background needed to run and operate an innovative company. She is regularly invited to speak to Cancer Support Centers and health conferences across the country. Shariann lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she can be near her family, both nuclear and extended.

Keri offers three personal journeys as a cancer caregiver, a role which uniquely positions her to understand how cancer impacts the patient and the family.  Keri’s coach training background includes more than 25 years as a faculty member of the Coaches Training Institute (CTI). She is also a perpetual student of metaphysics and brings spiritual depth to her work at The Cancer Journey. Keri has traveled cancer journeys with two other great loves of her life – her husband and her mother. Keri lives in Pacifica, a coastal town in the San Francisco Bay Area, with her husband, the family dog, and occasionally their young adult son.

Click here for webinar.

Presentation slides.

CE Webinar: Medical Cannabis - Clearing the Air, presented by Josephine Cannella-Krehl, MSW, LCSW

Thirty-three states plus the District of Columbia have passed medical cannabis laws. An additional 17 States have laws related to the legal use of CBD, a derivative of the cannabis plant. More and more people are turning to cannabis as a treatment option for both disease management and symptom control. This webinar will introduce Advocates and other healthcare professionals who participants to the human endocannabinoid system, what it is and what it does. The program will review how cannabis interacts with the body and the brain, provide an overview of conditions cannabis can be helpful for and refer participants to resources for exploring cannabis laws in their own states.

Program Objectives:

1. Participants will learn how cannabis is used therapeutically. 
2. Participants will learn how to research professionals to assist their patients on the type of cannabis for their specific conditions and the mode of delivery.
3. Participants will be able to identify conditions when cannabis can be helpful.

 
Josephine Cannella-Krehl, MSW, LCSW

Josephine Cannella-Krehl is a clinical social worker with a background in substance abuse counseling as well as in hospice and palliative care. When her father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, she began researching Cannabis as a therapeutic agent. As she began to realize that not only her patients but their family members were having to become “criminals” in order to access a plant that was providing them relief at their most vulnerable time, she felt a call to action. At the Florida state capitol, she connected with the Florida Cannabis Action Network and began developing strategies for the creation of sensible cannabis policies. She has testified at Department of Health Rulemaking workshops and in both Senate and House Committee meetings advocating for safe and legal access to cannabis. Now that Florida has an active medical cannabis program, she educates professionals and the general public on Cannabis Therapeutics and continues to advocate for the dignity, honor and informed decision making of patients.

Click here for recorded webinar.

Building Your Practice: An Interview with L. Bradley Schwartz: Greater National Advocates & NAHAC

In this month’s Designing Your Practice webinar (Note: this is audio only), Anne Llewellyn, Board Member and Educational Chair for NAHAC will interview L. Bradley Schwartz, to learn why he started Greater National Advocates (GNA), his goals for the organization and his vision for the future of advocates as the practice emerges.

Program Objectives:

Session Objectives: Attendees will understand the benefits of becoming part of the Greater National Advocates network.

1.  How GNA benefits patient advocates and the public;
2.  How GNA fits in and works with NAHAC, APHA & PACB;
3.  Why GNA was formed and what it does for the profession;
4.  What GNA will do and what GNA won’t do;
5.  What GNA has accomplished and is about to accomplish; and
6.  Why the timing is perfect to get on board with GNA.

 L. Bradley Schwartz, Esq.

After serving on the Board of Directors of NAHAC and PACB, L. Bradley Schwartz founded Greater National Advocates in order to wake up the nation to the lifesaving benefits of Patient Advocacy and connect patients and loved ones with qualified advocates who can help. Mr. Schwartz represented insurance companies for almost 20 years until he entered the local emergency room with a worsening headache in 2004. Over the course of many hours with no meaningful treatment, he fell into a coma.  The ER physicians missed the warning signs of overwhelming sepsis caused by bacterial meningitis, and upon awakening from the coma, all four of his limbs were amputated. In 2018, Mr. Schwartz founded Greater National Advocates where he serves as president of a national public service organization dedicated to promoting Patient Advocacy with the goal of reducing instances of medical error.

Click here to listen to the recorded audio.

CE Webinar: Advance Care Planning - Are You Prepared for the Crisis?

Understand the value of advance care planning, how to have the ‘conversation’ and why every adult should have an advance directive.  The presenter uses real-life stories to demonstrate the importance of advance care planning, how it works, and who benefits.

Program Objectives:

1. List the steps of advance care planning
2. Articulate the importance of having the “conversation” and giving the “gift”
3. Identify three criteria for choosing a healthcare agent

Jane Markley
M Jane Markley Consulting LLC

M. Jane Markley is a consultant and healthcare ethics advisor with 35+ years of experience in healthcare.   President of M Jane Markley Consulting, LLC, she works with individuals, families, organizations, ethics committees, and healthcare systems to help them understand the importance of advance care planning (ACP) for themselves, their loved ones and their members.  A retired Navy Nurse, she is board-certified in healthcare management; trains healthcare advocates; speaks nationally and internationally on ACP; works with individuals and their families to complete their advance directives; facilitates ethics training for medical students as an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda, MD, and serves on the Maryland State Advisory Council on Quality Care at the End of Life.

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CE Webinar: Advances in Telemedicine and Digital Health to Support Improved Access to CareSolutions

Telemedicine is changing the landscape of healthcare delivery through advances in technology, new reimbursement codes, and as a venue for clinical care management at home. With our aging population, increase in chronic disease, and staffing shortages, telemedicine provides a key solution for patient advocates to improve access to care, coordinate care delivery with providers and family members, improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs for the patients in their care. Advances in technology will allow mobile phones, home assistants (Alexa), and monitoring devices to provide advocates with real-time remote patient care for urgent care situations and offer care to patients with functional limitations. Moreover, new reimbursement methods will facilitate reimbursement for virtual check-in consults and monitor of patients for clinicians and reimbursement for services provided by non-clinical staff for Medicare Advantage policies.

Program Objectives:

1. Learn the various types of digital health platforms and how they are being used for patient care at home
2. Review new reimbursement laws and regulations
3. Share case studies, programs and demonstration programs regarding the use of telemedicine and digital health
4. Describe what are some of the challenges and barriers to success

Stewart Levy R.Ph, MBA
CEO HealthWell Solutions

Stewart Levy is CEO and President of HealthWell Solutions which focuses on evidence-based wellbeing solutions for employers and hospital systems. He has presented at a number of employer and insurance benefit conferences and has served on the board of the National Occupational Health Professional Association, Functional Medicine Coaching Association, Retail Clinic Association, Northeast Business Group on Health, and Medical Fitness Association. He has published studies with the American Heart Association on the impact of remote health screening programs with Large Employers and Consumer Venues. He is a corporate wellness executive with over 20 years of experience along with 15 years in the Pharmaceutical Industry. 

Click here for the webinar.

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Designing Your Practice Webinar: The Intake Process, Kim McIlnay

In this webinar, Kim will review the New Client Intake Appointment and the essential elements to include in your Care Summary and Action Plan. With this information, you'll be well situated to provide excellent medical advocacy for your clients. Actual case examples will be discussed. Kim combines her expertise as a family physician and as a patient with chronic illness herself to provide navigational/medical advocacy for clients with complex medical needs.

Program Objectives:

1. The participant will be able to list the essential elements of the intake appointment with a new client.
2. The participant will be able to create a detailed Care Summary for a new client with pertinent medical and psychosocial information.
3. The participant will be able to write a detailed Action Plan for the client.

 Kim McIlnay, BCPA, Patient Advocate
Founder of Together Patient Advocates, LLC

Kim McIlnay is a disabled family physician now assisting clients with complex medical needs with navigational/medical advocacy. She is the founder of Together Patient Advocates, LLC and provides in-person advocacy in the Sacramento region and web-based advocacy nationally. She completed the Certificate in Health Advocacy Program at UC Berkeley, is a Board Certified Patient Advocate and a member of NAHAC, APHA and the NorCal Patient Advocates groups. Kim is passionate about teaching and is excited to speak to NAHAC webinar participants.

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CE Webinar: Insurance Ins & Outs, Donna Smith

Do you feel comfortable explaining insurance technicalities to your clients? This webinar will provide you with information which is helpful for you to understand the nuances of insurance and utilize on behalf of your clients. The presentation includes a review and explanation of the three most common, costly pitfalls and misunderstandings of billing. You will learn the basic terminology necessary to understanding insurance documents. Finally, you will discover six reasons why a medical bill might be wrong and will help you to know what to look for when reviewing medical bills.
Program Objectives:

1. Distill the complexity of insurance plans and claims administration into the three most common and costly causes of billing issues and how to mitigate them.
2. By understanding insurance plan terminology, attendees will be able to help themselves or their clients make decisions that can help reduce their out-of-pocket insurance costs.   

 Donna Smith, Board Certified Patient Advocate
Founder and Owner of Capitol Healthcare Advocates

Donna's journey in healthcare began when she was four years old when her life was saved by a highly-skilled surgeon who repaired her complex congenital heart defect.  Insurance saved Donna's parents from financial hardships by paying most of the costs.  At that time, the healthcare system provided more answers than questions and helped guide her parents from diagnosis to recovery.  The year was 1960. A lot has changed since then.

Today, Donna has over 30 years’ experience managing health insurance plans, appeals, and negotiating claim resolutions. Having managed health insurance plans for employees of small and large employers, Donna saw the negative impact that increased plan costs and complexity had on the people they were supposed to protect.  She became an advocate for people trying to get care from convoluted medical systems and fighting to correct insurance bills. Donna feels privileged to see how people’s lives could be improved when they were able to access to medical care and receive proper insurance benefits.

She earned a Certificate in Health Advocacy from UC Berkeley and is a Board Certified Patient Advocate.  Donna’s business, Capitol Healthcare Advocates, focuses on the resolution of medical billing issues.

Full Members: $10 for CEs; Free without CEs

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Webinar: The Advocacy Process from Screening to Discharge

Speaker: Melynda Ruckels, RN MSN, Patient Advocate. Whether you are just starting out on your own as a Healthcare Advocate, or already have an established practice, this webinar will provide a streamlined, step-by-step plan from initial screening to discharge of the client. Starting with the initial 15-minute complimentary phone call, we will cover signing a contract and HIPAA forms, vetting providers, facilitating healthcare team meetings, and, most importantly, educating the client and family to make informed decisions to become their own advocates. 

Program Objectives:

1. The participant will be able to list the screening and assessment process of contracting with a new client.
2. The participant will gain knowledge of how to facilitate a team meeting with the medical/healthcare team.
3. The participant will gain knowledge of obtaining HIPAA compliant medical records.
4. The participant will gain tools to facilitate and work within the family dynamics which includes patient education.

 Melynda Ruckels, RN MSN, Patient Advocate

Melynda Ruckels, RN MSN, has been a nurse for over 44 years. She is a Holistic nurse with a clinical background in emergency room nursing, critical care nursing in the hospital ICU/CCU, mobile ICU, and Community Education for Health and Wellness. As a patient advocate, her goal is educating clients to become their own advocate and assist them in navigating America’s complicated healthcare system. She has a private practice in the Sacramento, Grass Valley/Nevada City area, offering Patient Advocacy, Hypnotherapy, and Energy Medicine services. Melynda is currently working as a consultant to a private ambulance company in Sacramento exploring different levels of Advocacy Transport for those needing an advocate and transportation.

She has been a guest speaker for the Healthcare Workforce Initiative, the Los Rios Community College Nursing Advisory Committee, the American Holistic Nurses Association Sacramento Chapter, California School Nurses Organization, and a panel speaker for California State University, Sacramento Nurse Entrepreneur event. Melynda is a nursing professor and has taught at all levels of nursing education, including Associate Degree (ADN) programs, Bachelors and Masters Programs. Melynda says that “helping people to heal and to awaken to their own healing abilities is a privilege and a joy that she experiences each time she sits with a client.” 

Click here for webinar.