Patient Advocacy & Patient Empowerment | Dr. Diane Engelman, Marin/Sonoma

Patient Advocacy

Help in Navigating the Health Care System

Obtaining high-quality, responsive health care is often a daunting challenge. I help people with mental health conditions and serious medical issues take charge of their own health care. Taking charge – or patient empowerment – can be essential to getting the care you need. But it’s not always possible to do this on your own.

For example, how do you know

Which course of treatment is best for you (or your loved one)?
When to seek a second (or third) opinion?
Whether you should question your diagnosis or your treatment plan?
What to do when your HMO or insurance company denies your claim?
When your medications may be complicating your medical situation?

I am a patient advocate. I specialize in helping people understand their diagnosis, evaluate treatment options, communicate with their health care team, and get the care they are entitled to. With my years of experience as a master’s level registered nurse, a psychologist and neuropsychologist, co-founder of a hospice, and the mother of a child with a serious medical problem, I believe I am in a unique position to help you find your way.

You can read about my own experience advocating for the care my daughter needed in "Through the Land of Oz: Self-Advocacy in Today’s Health Care System."

I offer practical suggestions, support, and guidance to help you

Find the information you need to answer questions about your health care.
Advocate for yourself or your family members with your doctor, HMO, or insurance company.
Make difficult decisions about your treatment or that of your significant other.
Communicate your questions, needs, and concerns to your health care providers.
Learn to become a better health care consumer.
Empower yourself with the tools you need to take charge of you own or your family’s medical care.

As your advocate, I can provide you with assistance as you manage your health care or that of a significant person in your life.

To learn more about becoming an "empowered patient" and taking charge of your own medical care, please contact me.

Learn more about our services:

"We absolutely must be our own advocates and advocates for our loved ones. We need to be educated and well-informed about the issues surrounding our health concerns. We can and should question those who are our healthcare professionals, but this relationship needs to be a partnership. It is the balance between professional perspective and personal experience that will achieve the best outcomes ..."

- J. Groopman, M.D.
The New Yorker, April 9, 2007

e-Patient Beats the Odds

"Dave deBronkart was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer (median survival 24 weeks) in 2007. e-Patient Dave rapidly learned to use every aspect of empowerment, technology, and participatory medicine to beat the odds."

- Society for Participatory Medicine

Become An "e-patient"

"Tom Ferguson coined the term e-patients to describe individuals who are equipped, enabled, empowered and engaged in their health and health care decisions. He envisioned health care as an equal partnership between e-patients and health professionals and systems that support them."

- e-patients.net