The Healthcare Confidential Podcast | Episode 11 “How Healthcare Advocates Can Improve Patient Outcomes with Nicole Christensen, BCPA”

For patients and their caregivers, venturing into the healthcare system can be like visiting a foreign land with its own language and customs. Strange medical terminology, rules of engagement dictated by insurance companies, stress over-diagnoses, and care plans, and mounting bills can be overwhelming for even savvy healthcare consumers. As providers increasingly emphasize the importance of patient-centered care, patient advocates have joined the healthcare landscape to help translate information, navigate the system, and empower patients to be fully engaged members of the care team. The presence of these professionals is beneficial to providers as well as patients and caregivers.

This week’s guest is patient advocate Nicole Christensen, BCPA. Nicole started Care Answered, healthcare coordination, and patient advocacy consulting firm, in 2014. She has spent most of her career as an advocate for older adults, serving as Advocacy Director at Emmaus Service for the Aging in Washington DC; Advocacy Consultant for LiveOn NY; and Director of Food Access at FoodChange, spearheading the focused outreach and advocacy campaign. As the Vice President of Programs and Agency Relations at Island Harvest, she developed and launched the first senior citizen mobile outreach and advocacy program. In addition to her professional experience, Nicole has had the personal challenge of securing the best possible care for her own family and thus understands how overwhelming and daunting it can seem.

The Take-Away: By ensuring that patients fully comprehend the information provided by their clinicians, patient advocates can help ensure compliance and thus improve outcomes.

Contact Nicole Christensen: www.careanswered.com or call 516.584.2007.
Nicole’s book, “From Crisis to Calm: A Patient Advocate’s Take on Healthcare Coordination for YOU, the Common Caregiver,” is available on Amazon.com, at Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold.

Healthcare Confidential Podcast