This episode topic discusses the importance of a HIPAA Release and comes by request from someone within the Take Good Care community app. It's an app I created for patients and caregivers who are navigating critical or chronic illness.

So, if you're a patient or caregiver, you would find support, education and a place where you can build community with people who get you, people who understand your plight and the challenges that you face every day as a patient or caregiver.

For the purposes of this conversation, we don't focus on HIPAA law (but I have provided a link to a resource with information about HIPAA and its lawful intent).

Instead, we focus more on a user-friendly approach, informing patients and caregivers about the use of a HIPPA Release, its importance as a communication tool in our healthcare, how to go about deciding whom we name on the Release, and how we disseminate our medical information during a health crisis.

On this episode, we discuss:

• 01:10: the definition of HIPAA.
• 01:43: the difference between a Medical Power of Attorney and a HIPAA Release.
• 02:55: how to choose who is named as the primary and secondary communicator on the HIPAA Release.
• 04:00: examples of the volley between the patient, caregiver, and communicator.
• 07:50: how to decide who disseminates medical information, how the information is shared, and how to avoid miscommunication by having a designated person gather information from providers and share it with loved ones.
• 10:35: the doctor's discretion in deciding with whom medical information is shared and how much information is given.
• 13:14: why it's important to keep a copy of your HIPAA Release.

Resource: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa

The podcast is an extension of the Take Good Care community app and the Empathetic Healthcare Practices™ Course. Download the app at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store and learn more about the Course at www.lisa-bradshaw.com.

Kim and Doug Bianchi and I happen to live in the same community, and we're friends. They are the owners of a lovely, small vineyard, and literally, from the onset of Doug's mysterious illness, this community and their friends showed up at the vineyard to work without even knowing what needed to be done after Doug woke up one morning paralyzed from the waist down.

No one can prepare for something so unexpected.

Doug admits he has a hard time asking for help, as so many of us do, but perhaps one of the lessons we learn from a health crisis is how to give and receive help, how to build community.

We discuss community, the give and take necessary during a health crisis, and the lessons learned about ourselves and the people surrounding us.

On this episode, we discuss:

:03: how to give and receive help during a health crisis

2:23: asking for help during a healthcare emergency

4:25: the impact of 'dis-ease'

6:20: the connection between 'dis-ease' and our mental state

8:30: the impact of mindset during illness

12:12: the power of community during a health crisis

15:29: the shock during the onset of a health crisis

17:24: the line between caregiver and spouse/life partner

The podcast is an extension of the Take Good Care community app and the Empathetic Healthcare Practices™ Course. Download the app at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store and learn more about the Course at www.lisa-bradshaw.com.

If you're a patient or caregiver who is amid a critical or chronic illness, you may have found yourself hospitalized in a facility that lacked the option for specialty care providers, like cardiologists (heart doctors) or oncologists (cancer doctors).

If you have a speciality care provider, or more than one specialty care provider, do you know at which hospital(s) in your area they hold privileges to practice medicine?

Have you discussed these details with your primary or speciality care providers in the event you require hospitalization and have the option to choose where you are hospitalized?

Brooke Taylor has worked as a physician assistant in emergency medicine for the majority of her career. On today's episode, we discuss the importance of knowing ahead of time where your primary and/or speciality care providers hold hospital privileges and the importance of understanding when and if you have a choice between specific hospitals.

We'll help clear up any confusion by providing examples that apply to this topic. To be clear, we are not encouraging you to buck the system and drive yourself 30 minutes away from the closest hospital during a medical emergency just because your speciality provider doesn't have medical privileges there.

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911.

On this episode, we'll discuss:

:08: the importance of responding to the for need emergency care

2:22: the difference between emergent care and urgent care

3:22: how continuity of care begins with primary care

6:22: chronic issues in a hospital setting

8:20: an example of emergent/urgent care decision-making

11:05: having a succinct understanding of patient need in urgent decision-making

13:48: utilizing primary and specialty care to help prevent healthcare escalations

14:20: how hopping providers can interfere with continuity of care

16:45: roles of primary and specialty care

17:39: communication between primary and speciality care providers

18:47: how hopping emergent and urgent care facilities can interfere with continuity of care

22:04: obtaining and utilizing your medical records to assist in continuity of care

23:44: the most helpful and effective steps you can take toward receiving continuity of care in most settings

The podcast is an extension of the Take Good Care community app and the Empathetic Healthcare Practices™ Course. Download the app at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store and learn more about the Course at www.lisa-bradshaw.com.

Have you ever left your doctor's office without asking a question that had weighed heavily on your mind?

Or maybe it's a question that suddenly came to mind, but you felt it might be a silly question, so you were too apprehensive and didn't ask it?

I've done this very thing. I haven't done it in a long time because I have worked hard to develop an informed voice in my healthcare, but there had been many times when I didn't have the confidence to ask certain questions, silly or not.

Kevin Kirksey is the author of Life 2.0: A Journey from Near Death to New Life. It's a divinely inspired account of Kevin’s physical, emotional, and spiritual transformation from unknowingly being near sudden death to living a life he never imagined possible. He shares the one, simple question he asked his doctor and how the results changed his course for good.

If Kevin hadn't felt comfortable or felt trust in his doctor to ask him one specific question, as he was literally leaving the doctor's office during a routine appointment...

If Kevin's doctor hadn't been willing to listen or hadn't responded to his request...

If Kevin hadn't had the confidence, or if he'd felt any insecurity or reluctance like we sometimes do in a doctor's office...

Kevin might not be here today.

And if Kevin were still alive today, there's a good chance he wouldn't be alive for long.

Part of the lesson in this story, and there are many lessons weaved within it, is that we must use our voice during our doctor appointments when we have a question that is life-changing for us, even when we don't realize it. If there's something that's nagging at us, something that's making us feel like we need to ask a question, then we must ask the question.

If you learn anything from Kevin story today, it's to ask the question. No matter what it is, how reluctance you feel, how insignificant it might seem... ask the question.

On this episode, we'll discuss:

• :07: the importance of asking your doctor the question that's on your mind
• 2:07: what led to Kevin's coronary calcium scan
• 3:48: the question that saved Kevin's life and his first experience with divine intervention.
• 7:57: the life-threatening, astronomical score of his scan
• 10:00: surgery and waking up to the possibilities of our lives
• 14:11: depression, focusing on others, affirming value of healthcare providers
• 19:15: caregiver support and the ripple effect of care
• 23:11: the healing power of writing your story
• 26:27: the three most essential items in life

The podcast is an extension of the Take Good Care community app and the Empathetic Healthcare Practices™ Course. Download the app at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store and learn more about the Course at www.lisa-bradshaw.com.

Have you ever utilized an effective and relevant checklist for seeking and finding your ideal primary care provider?

Well, I've made a list (more than once) and checked it twice (many times), and I'm sharing it with you.

Change is challenging for most people, especially as it relates to changes in our healthcare providers.

Whether you've had the same provider for numerous years or you're in the market for a new one (healthcare is a marketplace), you're likely to experience a change in your provider(s) at some point.

I've had the same primary care provider for more than a decade, so when she recently decided to make a change for herself and leave the provider group for which she'd work for several years, I felt like a ship without a captain (or co-captain, since navigating healthcare is a team effort).

This checklist has proven affective when choosing both my primary and specialty care providers, so keep the checklist and this episode handy for when you or someone you know needs it in the future.

On this episode, we'll discuss:

• 1:51: choosing a provider who is accepting new patients
• 3:45: the checklist that meets our needs as a patient
• 5:40: an example of how to make contact with the potential provider's office (and what proves a good sign of a competent and helpful support staff)
• 8:25: making sure your needs are known (and met) from the start
• 9:58: the importance of being prepared with questions ahead of your appointment

The podcast is an extension of the Take Good Care community app and the Empathetic Healthcare Practices™ Course. Download the app at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store and learn more about the Course at www.lisa-bradshaw.com.

Everyone experiences stress, and each of us can benefit from learning more about how to achieve rest and well-being.

Karen Doreen is an RN and a stress and well-being coach. She teaches us the three pillars of her Production Rest Pathway: Rest, Reconnect, Restore, and offers us tips that we can begin implementing immediately, even while listening to this episode.

Owner of The Rest RN, Karen specializes in clients who work within the healthcare profession, but her tools and tactics can be used by anyone who seeks a more Zen life.

The Take Good Care community app is built for patients and caregivers who are currently amid a critical or chronic illness. However, the Take Good Care Podcast also relates to a broader audience. We definitely still serve the patients and caregivers from the community app, but what if you're someone who isn't currently amid a health crisis?

Well, you can still learn from this episode because the tips and tactics discussed can apply to any stressful situation and how we can manage that stress. Whether it's a health crisis or something else, it is still about taking good care. And, there's no better time than now to learn these skills, and how we can apply them to our everyday lives.

On this episode, we'll discuss:

• 0:11: episode goals and introduce Karen Doiron
• 1:58: stress and its indicators
• 3:55: examples of restful practices
• 6:51: a step-by-step process for reducing stress
• 8:35: pillar one: rest
• 10:02: stress triggers in our everyday lives
• 12:17: pillar two: reconnect
• 13:27: restorative sleep and how much is enough
• 16:58: pillar three: restore

The podcast is an extension of the Take Good Care community app and the Empathetic Healthcare Practices™ Course. Download the app at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store and learn more about the Course at www.lisa-bradshaw.com.

This is the first story that I shared within the Take Good Care community app, before I even knew how to correctly share a link.

Dr. Trine Engebretsen and Ryan Labbe met online through a liver disease support organization. They both suffered liver disease as children and have defied the odds of survival at every turn.

After Trine's mother's advocacy led to multiple provider opinions with no diagnosis, it was the 13th try that introduced them to a doctor at Boston Children's Hospital who correctly diagnosed Trine with a genetic condition called Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. She soon received a liver transplant at 6 months old when given only 48 hours to live, but the prognosis was still poor. She was expected to live only 6 more months, even with the life-saving medical intervention of a liver transplant.

Ryan was diagnosed with biliary atresia at 6 weeks old and received a procedure that is usually a short-term bridge to a much-needed liver transplant, only his procedure lasted an astounding 27 years, until about the time he met Trine.

Their courtship and love story is one of those inspirational outcomes I've promised would be shared on the Take Good Care Podcast, along with tools and lessons you can apply to your own healthcare journey.

The couple is the only known liver transplant recipient couple to have children. Their story, the lessons in advocacy they have learned, and their commitment to each other and to living life from a positive point of view⏤no matter the obstacles⏤makes this debut patient (and caregiver) story the perfect choice.

On this episode, we'll discuss:

• 0:06: the introduction to Trine’s story
• 5:00: Ryan’s liver disease and chronic illness
• 8:51: the catalyst for Trine to change her career path
• 12:55: statistics and why they do and don't matter
• 14:22: the role attitude plays during a health crisis
• 17:57: why organ transplant is worth the potential complications
• 22:31: the decisions and concerns regarding having children as transplant recipient parents
• 26:18: the impact of building a team of trusted providers
• 30:12: parenting while navigating a high-pressure career as a transplant surgeon
• 31:08: how much the little things in life matter

The podcast is an extension of the Take Good Care community app and the Empathetic Healthcare Practices™ Course. Download the app at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store and learn more about the Course at www.lisa-bradshaw.com.

In 26 years as a patient or caregiver, I have called a nurse off my loved one's critical care service in a hospital setting only ONE TIME. It's a big decision and isn't taken lightly.

We won't always like the nurses we encounter, just like we won't always like every co-worker or other people with whom we are forced to interact.

On this episode, you'll hear advice for nurse/patient and nurse/caregiver communication, a specific example of when and how to go about calling a nurse off of service, and the importance and rewards of the nurse/patient and nurse/caregiver relationship.

On today's episode, we'll discuss

• 2:03: Allyson Mobley and her role in critical care
• 3:54: background to critical care hospital setting
• 6:07: David and the one time I called a nurse off service
• 8:22: how to call a nurse off service
• 8:58: answering for my decision (related only to patient safety, not conflict in personality, although both were an issue)
• 11:32: how your 'gut feeling' can impact patient care
• 12:04: how to establish effective nurse/patient and nurse/caregiver communication and why it's vital during a critical care hospital stay

The podcast is an extension of the Take Good Care community app and the Empathetic Healthcare Practices™ Course. Download the app at the Apple Store or the Google Play Store and learn more about the Course at www.lisa-bradshaw.com.