Time to Make My Stand

I want. No, I NEED your help and come to you boldly but with great humility. There’s a time in each of our lives when our number is called and we can either step forward or slink back in the crowd. My time has come.

I became a chiropractor because of a little girl whose life was restored because of a simple chiropractic adjustment.  The simplicity of that act and the faith of that little girl’s mother showed me the Power of an Idea whose time had come.  How could something SO simple have such profound effects on what had had teams of pediatricians, neurologists, psychiatrists, etc. confused and without anywhere to go and a hopeless prognosis?

It has never been my nature to jump in without first investigating.  You could say I’m an adventurous skeptic.  I’d always liked to think there were better ways to deal with complex problems, but had to be shown how and why something worked FIRST!  What I found astounded me!

Simply put, chiropractic works because of the simplicity of the premise on which it was founded.  That premise is that EVERYTHING in the Universe is organized.  It’s that organization that holds things together, keeps the planets aligned and holds matter together.  Further, that organization exists in ALL living things.  And, it’s that VERY organization that takes a single spermatazoa (out of 30,000,000) and forms a beautiful little baby in a matter of 9 months. 

That organization is responsible for the growth and development (mental, physical and emotional) of that little human life form and enables it to live and thrive under the most dire circumstances.  It provides immunity against diseases known or not yet discovered by scientists.  Left to its own devices, that organization enables that new life to thrive, prosper and contribute postiively to its own world and the world around him or her.

But, I’ve been frustrated with my chiropractic practice for some time.  I’ve allowed myself to practice in a schitzofrenic world.  My profession is split between trying to compete with medical doctors as we try to treat medical conditions only without drugs or surgery on one hand and trying to teach people how to live a holistic lifestyle directed by that innate wisdom already in them.  On top of that, we try to do both with a fee system beased on a failed healthcare system.  The result is that we either “treat” some until their insurance is used up or develop care plans designed to lock folks into long-term care plans.

Because of my initial exposure to the power of chiropractic in its truest form, I’ve always had a distaste for some of the business aspects of our profession.  Having been a banker, real estate broker and having a degree in Economics, I appreciate the free market and the concept of charging what the market will bear.  However, I also understand the concept of branding. And I think my profession has done a damned lousy job of branding itself.

In its simplest form, chiropractic removes or reduces a significant source of stress on one’s nervous system, THE system in the body that executes that innate organization of which I spoke earlier.  THAT’S IT!  In fact, if done properly, a person will genreally see significant results from chiropractic within a relatively FEW visits.  After that, routine visits can help maintain or improve your health as you move into the future.

My exposure to chiropractic was from the standpoint that chiropractors can help you get (and stay) better for less money and in less time.  One of the great benefits I saw in the application of chiropractic was that it not only freed up people’s health, but their wallet and time, as well.  So, it literally makes me SICK when someone says they can’t afford chiropractic care because they either don’t have “health” insurance or their policy doesn’t cover it.  In fact, many “health” insurance policies have such high deductibles that a person SHOULD be able to get the chiropractic care they need WITHOUT ever exceeding their decuctible.

So, I’ve decided to take a stand.  I’m tired of selling chiropractic from the medical perspective of SCARING people into getting chiropractic care.  Do I think an unresolved chiropractic problem can lead to your death?  OF COURSE I DO!  But, the death message hasn’t stopped people from smoking cigarettes or drinking or taking drugs, whether pushed or prescribed.  So, I’m just not going to do that!  I WANT yu to get adjusted BECAUSE it will make you BETTER and HEALTHIER!  Period!  I am going to have a FEE SYTEM that MAKES SENSE, not necessarily from my associates’ perspective, BUT from the CONSUMER’S!  “Health” insurance has NOTHING to do with health.  Insurance is designed for catastrophic, crisis situations NOT long-term investments in health and wellness.

If you want to build WEALTH, you INVEST on a regular basis. Of course you have insurance, but that’s to protect you from catstrophic loss.  Insurance doesn’t grow your wealth only help protect it from loss.  It’s the same way with Medicine and insurance.  Their job is to keep you from dying or losing everything because of a catastrophic health problem.  There’s a HUGE difference.  I’m not trained for the Emergency Room where Medicine shines.  I’m trained to help you BUILD a powerful life AND KEEP YOU OUT OF THE HOSPITAL by keeping your Master Control System free and clear.

HERE’S WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO! I want to reach at least 200 individuals over the next 90 days.  I have adjusted my fees to make it EASY for virtually ANY family to afford routine chiropractic care REGARDLESS of their insurance coverage.

HERE A SOME WAYS YOU CAN HELP:
1)  Forward this message to anyone you know WHO’S DEALING WITH A CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEM!
2) CALL ME WITH SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES WITH ANY GROUP YOU KNOW that might be interested in this NEW perspective on chiropractic and health.
3) SEND YOUR GOOD ENERGY (thaat means thoughts and prayers) toward me and those folks who are dying for a little bit of hope for health and healing.
4) Plan on joinng me for a giant celebration after we’ve achieved this great accomplishment!
5) If you’re a chiropractic friend and you have any POSITIVE thoughts and suggestions, feel free to send me an e-mail, post on my FB wall or give me a call.

PLEASE NOTE: If you just want to bitch because you think I’m devaluing chiropractic, don’t bother. The world needs what I (we) have to offer. THEY are more important that what someone thinks about my fees.

Spread the word!

Keep the faith! Turn the crank! TESTIFY!

Chiropractic: Truth in Advertising

When I heard the call to become a chiropractor, it was NOT necessarily to fix backaches and strains. It was because I had seen lives literally saved, or at least changed, after all hope had been lost pursuing traditional approaches to their problem.  One in particular was a little girl who had suffered from seizures her entire life.

That little girl NEVER suffered a backache.  But, she DID suffer.  Her mother had NO INSURANCE.  And if she had to pay the same fee that folks with insurance coverage paid, she simply could not have afforded the care.  But, her chiropractor had a fee system that allowed her to get the care she needed at a price that was affordable and predictable.

Part of the problem people have with chiropractors is that they don’t always know what we do! Some try to fix back pain, while others sell supplements or various other devices.  Some wear white coats (some even drape a stethoscope over their neck) and exclaim, “We’re REAL doctors, too!”  Most claim that what we do can help you get and stay healthy.  But, FEW can (or will) tell you in a few words what it is we really do.

Here’s the truth about chiropractic! In it’s simplest form, chiropractic is the location and correction of a source of interference in how your body communicates with itself.  Specifically, we reduce stress on your central nervous system caused by slight misalignments of a bone (or bones) in your spine.  Because your nervous system runs your whole body and affects EVERY aspect of your life, that stress can affect your health, thinking and emotions.  When a chiropractor does what he/she is supposed to do, your body functions better. It simply can’t help BUT work better.

Most chiropractors will take your insurance.  But, when a doctor accepts your insurance it usually raises the cost of your care. There are many reasons why.  Just know it does.  I have an article on my blog about “The Case for Cash”.  Feel free to check it out.

At my practice, ALL we do is remove that stress that ONLY chiropractors are trained to find and correct. And because that’s all I do, it allows me to charge a fee that people can afford.  I also believe that if chiropractic is good for helping you GET BETTER it is also good for helping you STAY BETTER.  That’s why we encourage folks to include it in their lifestyle.

So, if I want you to include it in our lifestyle, shouldn’t I have a fee system that will allow you to do JUST that? Of course!  Isn’t THAT what they mean when they say “Put your money where your mouth is!”? A few years ago, I came up with the concept of “The Membership Practice” where you pay like you do for a health club membership.

We offer three (3) types of memberships. 1) Individual Visit Member: You pay a yearly fee of $100 and then you pay a reduced fee each time you come for a visit, a little more if you bring the rest of your family.  2) Monthly Practice Membership is a monthly investment that’s reasonable for almost any individual or family for unlimited care.  This plan is designed to help you fit routine chiropractic adjustments into your lifestyle without breaking the bank.  Yearly Practice Memberships work out to be about half of what the monthly plan would be and offers the same benefits as the monthly plan, only at a great savings.

Why would I offer my services at such a ridiculous value? I’m glad you asked.  At my office, we are dedicated to helping folks achieve their health goals in a way that saves them time, money and hassle.  My goal is to help as many people as I possibly can!  If I help you AND give you a great value, aren’t you more likely to tell someone else who could benefit from chiropractic?  Of course you are.

So, here’s what I’d like for you to do.  Please forward this post to a friend who could stand to feel better and be better TODAY!  The very best time to do something good for someone is when the idea pops into your mind. Thanks for taking time to read this message and for passing it on.

The View from Outside the Box

Surely you’ve heard the term “Think outside the boc”.  I first heard th term in a business workshop way back in the 70s.  We were told to put the following drawing on a piece of paper and told to connect all the dots with four STRAIGHT lines WITHOUT lifting our pencil off the paper.

It was amazing the gyrations we all went through to get the assignment done.  Well, there were a couple of folks who had seen the exercise done before.  Otherwise, no one had even a clue how to solve the puzzle.  Then the instructor proceeded to show us how the puzzle was solved:

As we all now know, the ONLY solution for the problem was to draw outside the (imaginary) box created by the dots.  What an awesome metaphor for many (most) of the problems facing our society at this point in time, including the economy, world affairs, politics, education and healthcare.  In fact, many of the problems we face have become SO institutionalized and entrenched that they can NEVER be resolved with the same thinking that caused the problem in the first place.

Let’s consider just healthcare.  As far as any of us can remember, healthcare in this culture has been one of fighting disease.  We start at birth vaccinating kids against all sorts of diseases from routine childhood illnesses like chicken pox and measles to diptheria, smallpox, TB and polio.  As we age, the battle is joined against cancer, heart disease and now diabetes.  Now, we’re being attacked by chronic health problems ranging from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia to irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis.  And, that says nothing about the proliferation of autoimmune disease.  And lest we forget Restless Leg Syndrome?

In essence, we’ve creasted a “disease managment” system instead of a HEALTH care system.  Drug companies seems to “discover” diseases that they just happen to have a “new” drug that treat THAT diease perfectly.  Unfortunately, that system of “care” has made going to the doctor and paying for it an almost impossible task.  Finally, we’ve reached the point where we’re looking to Government to take over health care.  I take little comfort in knowing that the same folks that are handling Social Security, Medicare, the IRS and Hurricane Katrina will now be taking care of our health decisions.

So, for these and other reasons, I opted out of the traditional Western approach to “health care” a long time ago.  I guess it’s been almost 20 years now that I haven’t taken a drug or gone to the doctor for anything but emergencies.  Well, I DO go to the chiropractor on a regular basis to get adjusted.   But, I don’t go for pain management or any kind of symptom control.   I thought it might be interesting to explain what it’s like on the other side of the healthcare fence looking in.

Even prior to my exposure to the wholistic lifestyle, I was somewhat leery of established Medicine and would only take an aspirin for an occasional headache or when my back problem would flare up.  And, until I got my back problem resolved, there was always a tube of Preparation H in the medicine cabinet.  I don’t rember the last time I took prescription drugs.  The last flu shot I got was in 1975 when Uncle Sam made me get one before letting me out of the Air Force.

The view from outside the box is interesting.  I don’t take drugs.  Period.  I don’t need them.  I don’t get sick.  I also don’t go to doctors.  It’s not that I don’t “believe” in them.  I just don’t need them.  Now, if I were involved in a car accident or broke a leg, I’d be the first to go to the ER because that’s where Medicine shines.  Otherwise, I just don’t need it.  I don’t have a cardiologist, proctologist, orthopedist, neurologist (although I’ve referred folks to a few) or even a General Practitioner.  Are there any of those even left?  Now, quite a few folks have asked me “What if…?”  And, my response is “What if…what?”  The point is I simply don’t live in that “disease” world.  I don’t know what ny blood pressure is or my cholesterol level or my bone density or if I have polyps.  I don’t care.

Because I know that we were designed to be healthy, my focus is on health, not disease.  I know that if I eat right, exercise, drink water, develop and maintain a good attitude and spiritual life, get adjusted and do those things that help build HEALTH, I’ve done all I can do.  And because of my fiath and what I know about health, I am not afraid of living or dying.

When I look inside the box, I see folks living in fear of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc.  Their lives are consumed running from disease.  And, by the time many folks are 60 they have those little boxes with pills for every day of the week.  They run to the doctor every time they have a cold or a symptom.   Some folks I know spend almost a thousand bucks a month on “health” insurance that typically covers far less than people really need.  Health costs has virtually driven American automakers out of business.  Even folks with “good” insurance aren’t immune to the fear of disease.  In fact, I know several millionaires who suffer from anxiety attacks and the same diseases that afflict the poor.

The main difference in the perspectives on either side of the box is fear.  From the inside, fear rules and limits one’s fullest expression and enjoyment of life.  From outside the box, a sense of peace about health is the rule rather than the exception.  Now, I’m not necessarily telling folks to cancel their insurance and shoot their doctors.  But what I am saying is that there is another way to view health and life.  In a later post, I’ll talk more about inspired living.  Until then, consider all your alternatives.

Some doctors may stop giving vacines because of cost

Almost lost in the news of the day is the fact that up to 10% of doctors are decidig NOT to offer vaccinations because private insurance reimbursements make that service unprofitable.  Hmmm.  I thought vaccinations were SO important that they have been mandated in every state with only religious or medical exemptions.

Maybe this story is telling us that the ones benefitting most from compulsory vaccination programs are doctors’ offices.  Either the insurance companies don’t believe completely in the value of vaccination OR the docotr doesn’t.  Either way, shouldn’t health consumers have the right to question the efficacy of today’s vaccine regime for their kids and families?

Here’s the link to the story.

How might the financial market crisis affect your healthcare?

Good question.  Probably NOT the first thing folks think about when they hear and read reports about the (almost $1 TRILLION) Government bailout of the financial industry.  However, this nonsense will ripple throughout our entire economic sytem with repercussions not yet considered by our “leaders”.

The real estate, banking, securities and insurance industries are all linked in a variety of ways.  In good times, insurance companies are flush with cash and invest heavily in the stock market and real estate.  Also during good times, bankers tend to get a little over-enthusiastic and get very aggressive in their lending.  As we have seen from this “bailout” madness, securities firms speculated on the value of real estae and bought and sold essentially worthless mortgage backed securities in astounding volumes.

As the market turned, all of these entities became less liquid and started pulling in their horns.  If it were just one bank, or securities firm or insurance company, there would be virtually no problem as a result.  However, everybody involved started pulling back at the same time and in a drastic way.  The result is what we are seeing right now,  a liquidity crisis throughout the financial industry.

So, just how will all this affect your healthcare?  Good question.  Specifically with insurance companies, I think you’ll see a few things happen.  As they try to improve their liquidity, I think you’ll see premiums increase while payouts are tightened.  In other words, t’s going to cost you more to have insurance AND it will pay you even less than before IF they pay, at all.  You can expect underwriting criteria to get insurance to get much toughr.  You may see your healthcare providers ask you to pay up front and have your insurance company reimburse ou directly.

So, how might you deal with this scenario?  One alternative might be to purchase a higher deductible insurance policy.  Another would be to think twice about even using your insurance.  Isn’t THAT a heck of a note?  Pay out the nose for insurance and not be able to use it.  Still another might be to seek out providers that operate on a cash basis and offer reasonable fees based on what YOU need instead of what your insurance policy might pay.

However you decide to deal with this situation in the banking and finance industry, you should keep your debt down and try to manage your expenses as much as possible.  Stay healthy and on the job.  If you need to find a good chiropractor to help you stay healthy and on the job, just let me know.  I have friends that can help you stay on the job AND save money while doing so.  Best wishes.

The “next” bailout will be the healthcare (?) industry

Given the current hysteria over the Government “bailout” of the financial industry, we tend to lose sight of other potential problems on the horizon.  Now that the Government has injected itself into “saving” whole industries, we should not be surprised when traditional healthcare systems in this country start clamoring for the government to bail them out, as well.

The following article indicates that one estimate is that problems caused by hospitals (not related to the reason for being in the hospital) accounts for over 12% of total legal liability costs of healthcare facilities in 2007.  As you know, hospitals bill your insurance company for these so-called “never events” AND GET PAID!

As other insurance carriers follow Medicare’s lead and refuse to pay for these “never events”, I think you’ll see these facilities and even the AMA and other groups calling for the Government to intervene.

How did we EVER get to the point where we PAID for doctors and hospitals to screw people up and NOT pay to get and keep them well?

Here’s the article:

Study: Never events major factor in hospital liability costs

According to new research by insurance firm Aon Corp., hospital-acquired conditions accounted for 12.2 percent of total legal liability costs insured by healthcare facilities in 2007. It is perhaps the first study to benchmark claims specific to “never events” affected by Medicare’s new policy of not paying for hospital-acquired conditions. (All four of the never events reviewed by Aon are covered by Medicare’s new policy.)

According to the study, one out of six claims against healthcare facilities were related to hospital-acquired infections, injuries, pressure ulcers and foreign objects left in the body after survey in 2007, according to the company’s 2008 Hospital Professional Liability and Physician Liability Benchmark Analysis. Of these, claims for injuries were most frequently reported of four hospital-acquired condition categories. Pressure ulcers were the most expensive for healthcare facilities, which cost them about $145,000 on average for claims per incident in 2007, Aon concluded.

To draw its conclusions, Aon analyzed almost 78,000 claims, relating to a total of $9.3 billion in incurred losses. The data included information from more than 1,200 facilities from 1998 to 2007.

Better – Faster – Cheaper

One of my major chiropractic influences has always advocated a volume practice.  But, he always warned us that chiropractic could also be a difficult career path, at times.  His admonition was to always be looking for opportunities to serve and to tell others about the benefits of chiropractic care.

My mentor was from another time, a time prior to insurance where a consumer’s only reluctance was due to ignorance or outright lies about chiropractic from the medical establishment.  Then, the message was fairly simple, “Chiropractic is better, it’s faster and it’s cheaper” than other approaches to health problems that had failed so many health consumers.  And, at that time, there was no such thing as third party reimbursement.  No “health” insurance, no Medicare, no nothin’.  Huge practices were built simply by referral, education and, obviously, results.

Many of my chiropractor friends that had practiced prior to the coming of insurance reimbursement for chiropractic care lament the days when folks gladly paid cash for their care BECAUSE they knew their problem would be dealt with WITHOUT a whole lot of nonsense like they had come to expect at their “other” doctor’s office.  They also knew that if chiropractic care could help them, the results would show up pretty quickly and that it would not cost them an arm and a leg.

While many chiropractors that love the principle of innate healing and the power of the chiropractic adjustment, the reality of student loans, financial overhead and sometimes easy payment from insurance companies, we’ve become (as a profession) guilty of essentially medicalizing chiropractic.  We’ve taken a very simple concept of reducing nerve interference and turned it into some sort of treatment regimen.  And while a chiropractic problem (if left unresolved) may eventually BECOME a medical problem, it is now used to scare people into care.

Early chiropractors desired to make the “one” adjustment that permanently corrected a person’s problem forever.  While that’s certainly a noble desire, today’s stressful world does make that almost impossible.  However, chiropractic pioneers offered a revolutionary concept of empowering folks to be as healthy as possible and less dependent on ANY sort of doctor, chiropractors included.  One famous chiropractor had a saying, “Find it.  Fix it.  Leave it alone.”  The whole premise was to fix the problem and not screw it up by doing anything more.  Good advice, indeed.

There are (at least) two approaches in chiropractic today that really bother me.  They both are based in the concept of “exhaustion of benefits”, even more evidence of the medicalization of chiropractic.  With one approach, HMO and PPO providers will see you as few times as possible and bill for everything the insurance company will pay them.  The other suggests a care plan with a huge number of visits, showing how much your insurance will pay, then allowing you to make payments on the balance.  Both of these are heavily oriented towards a mechanistic approach and diminishes the true value of chiropractic as a simple, safe and affordable means toward better health and living.

Wouldn’t it be better to see LOTS of people INSTEAD of seeing people lots?  If people KNEW they could go to a chiropractor and feel better and function better and NOT EVEN have to use their insurance, wouldn’t ALL chiropractors AND the public benefit so much more?

My chiropractic mentor (one of many, actually) often said “You’ve gotta always market yourself BECAUSE people get better!”  I long for the days when chiropractors strove to empty the hospitals and prisons and fill the churches and synagogues because people wanted to live better lives and chose chiropractic as a vehicle to help them do so.

Good News! Some states not allowing payment of NEVER events

Lord have mercy!  Can you believe it?  Some states are not allowing hospitals to be paid for costly medical errors like cutting out the wrong body part or operating on the wrong limb.

I just have to ask “Why in the world would they EVER have allowed payment for malpractice in the first place?  Is it any wonder modern Medicine is having such problems these days.  Here’s the link to the story.  I just can’t believe it.

Remember, it’s cheaper and safer to avoid dangerous drugs and surgery if at all possible.  Your chiropractor just might be able to help!

Why Real Estate Agents Need a Chiropractor

It’s simple, really.  Real estate agents are under so much pressure on an ongoing basis that it affects their health and, eventually, their ability to work effectively.

Having been in both residential and commercial real estate, I have experienced firsthand the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat that defines the business.  I closed a 700 acre land assemblage at the end of 1996 just before we entered the last recession.  The contrast in highs and lows of that experience drove me into the residential end of the business.

Having had all the fun I could stand on the listing side, as soon as I learned about exclusive buyer agency, that’s the route I took.  I really enjoyed working with homebuyers (mostly) because you KNEW there was a good chance that THAT relationship would probably lead to a closing.  Well, as anyone reading this post knows, things don’t always work out that way.  Although the sire of the transactions were much smaller than I had experienced in the commercial real estate realm, the contrasts were still stressful on the mind, the body and the spirit.

Once I realized the effects stress can have on the body and the role chiropractic care could play in alleviating that stress, I undertook the task of becoming a chiropractor.  And, I must tell you that I haven’t been disappointed.  If you’ve read any of my other posts you know that I’ve seen seizures stopped, blood pressure lowered, hemorrhoids eliminated, acid reflux reversed, back and neck pain controlled and headaches vanquished.

Given the stress real estate professionals endure, it only makes sense that they should include a chiropractor on their health team.  And since many agents don’t have adequate (?) health (?) insurance, a chiropractor who focuses on long-term wellness care and with reasonable cash-based fee systems makes more sense than those with heavy insurance oriented fees and who practice purely from a pain management perspective.

If you know a real estate professional who seems to be bending under the pressure, forward this post on to them.  Better yet, have them contact me.  I’ll help them find the right chiropractor for them.

Chiropractor as Health Advocate

Needless to say, the American healthcare (?) system is in a state of flux.  In other words, it’s anybody’s guess as to what will happen with health care here.  Will health insurance premiums continue to rise while benefits continue to shrink?

Will the same Government that gave us Social Security (?), Medicare, Katrina, the IRS, etc. (you get the idea) some how magically get its collective act together and make everything alright?  Well, I doubt it.   Or, will we finally decide to take our health seriously and become responsible for our own health and let the Government, the insurance industry and everybody else for that matter take care of their own interests?

Honestly, I’ll be glad when folks start taking their own health seriously and rely less on others with separate (and financial) interests make their health decisions for them.  But, that implies that Americans will start educating themselves about health, where it comes from and how it’s lost.

As a family and wellness chiropractor, I have folks that come to me on a weekly basis.  Many come to prevent a problem from coming back that might have brought them to me in the first place.  Still, others continue to come because they have the opportunity to ask questions about their health and other advice they may have been given from other sources.  I can’t tell you how many times folks are given advice (or worse, orders) based on what might be best for someone else’s financial interests instead of what is in their own best interests.

The time has come for health care consumers to become educated in options other than a purely Medical approach.  The Medical paradigm, has become a liability in many cases.  When doctors intentionally steer their patients away from non-medical, non-surgical approaches when the doctor may know little (if anything, at all) about alternative approaches, or even worse tell lies about alternative approaches while KNOWING the alternative approach COULD be beneficial to the patient.

First, let me say that there is absolutely NO reason why you can’t have both a chiropractor AND a medical doctor as part of your health care team at the same time.  What we do is totally separate and distinct.  Anyone that makes you choose one over the other has put THEIR interests before yours.  You should not only leave that practitioner, you should RUN from them.  Frankly, they are dangerous.  Your health care provider should have YOUR interest at heart before all others, including their own.

The value of having a chiropractor as a member of your health care team is that they probably have a different perspective on a host of matters.  Since their training many times is built around what mekes you healthy instead of what makes you sick, they bring a HEALTH perspective that many in Medicine simply may not have.  And, wouldn’t it be nice to have a reasonable discussion on things you might be able to do to help you avoid the need for drugs or surgery?

If I were an employer, I would want to look at every way possible to reduce my overhead, including making available to my employees someone who can help them be the best possible health care consumer.  Besides, the healthier my employees are the lower the cost of providing them with health benefits.  As someone once said, “The best consumer is an informed consumer”.

If you own a company or are responsible for the benefits your company provides, I encourage you to consider offering health advocacy as a benefit to your employees.  If you’d like to discuss the concept, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.  If you’re an individual wanting to get the most out your health, drop me a note.  I’ll show you how you can have your own health advocate.  Just know that NO ONE will take better care ofyou than YOU.  Start today!