Video Transcript

Tracey Welson-Rossman:
Well, good afternoon, everyone. My name is Tracey Welson-Rossman. I'm the founder of Journal My Health. We are on the app store. We just launched and we decided that we should start having some, you know, content to put out there to talk about patient centric healthcare. That's what we're gonna be focusing on. And I'm very fortunate to have, as our first guest, who I met, at South by Southwest virtual this year.

So, very happy to have met Joyce Griggs, who is the founder of United States of Healthcare. And what attracted me to Joyce and her bio was, you know, her discussion of patient forward, patient centric. So today we're talking about how to be your own health advocate. So first I just want to say hello, Joyce. welcome from New York. And, can you tell me a little bit about what United States of Healthcare. Why you founded United States of Healthcare and what your purpose is?

Joyce Griggs: Sure. Thanks, Tracey. It's great to be here with you and I think it's so great that we met virtually through South by Southwest virtually. That was, that was special especially for this year. So United States of Healthcare, essentially our vision is we believe that navigating the US healthcare system should not be more difficult than living with the condition itself; and that no one should have to spend more effort to navigate the system than they do just in dealing every day with whatever conditions they happen to be dealing with. So, we, wanted to start a website and a blog.

The blog is really the centerpiece of what we're doing right now, which collects, curates and tells the stories of healthcare insiders because one of the things that we found, and I found through my own story is that even when you know a lot about the healthcare system and you're an expert, or, because we've had people who are healthcare providers tell their stories, or even somebody like myself who's worked in healthcare for many years, and knew a lot about how it worked, but when faced with having to navigate through the system, found it extraordinarily difficult.
And so it occurred to us that it was really important to tell these stories, so that there was a way of having that empathetic moment. I mean, we're built for storytelling and for taking in information through storytelling as humans. But then also we ribbon these stories with very concrete, very specific pro-tips. So either to help you do what we did or help you to do, not do what we did, because sometimes we make mistakes.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: Right.

Joyce Griggs: ... what we're all about. Yeah.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: That's amazing. So why don't you tell me, if you don't mind sharing, a little bit about why you founded the United States of Healthcare?

Joyce Griggs: Absolutely. Happy to, happy to tell you. So, my former husband, George, who is all in favor of United States of Healthcare and us telling our collective story, had knee replacement surgery. He also had other health issues, mental health issues and addiction issues that exacerbated his condition. So we found ourselves careening really through a very scary time because the specialist who replaced his knee was excellent at what he did, but he looked at none of the other things that were happening with George.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: Right.

Joyce Griggs: George, you know, wound up in a situation where he needed a lot more than somebody just looking at what was happening with his knee. The healthcare system was letting him down in that way. So I began to advocate for him and demand certain things happen in the coordination of his care and had a lot of help from some really great nurses, as it usually turns out in healthcare, great doctors, but man, the nurses, they are the heroes. And, they coached me, and I learned to become an advocate. And so I realized, I was like, "Wow, if it's this hard for me and everything that I know, what's it going to be like for others?"

And I then started soliciting stories from folks and began to realize that we need to share this and get it out there so that every American can have the tools to really be their own self-advocate, because self-advocacy is what it's going to take. There's a lot of things we want to see happen in terms of the system changing from the outside, but we can change it from the inside through our behavior.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: That is, that is such an important point. We totally understand, that yes, there's issues within the insurance industry, healthcare industry-

Joyce Griggs: Yeah.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: ...and sometimes we may feel like we're powerless, but as individuals we can empower ourselves to, you know, do things that are good for us, and sometimes it can be tiring. So it's great to have some of these tips to have.

Joyce Griggs: Yeah.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: To put this point out again, you're saying that people need to be their own advocates.

Joyce Griggs: Yeah.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: What are some ways that you can crystallize that for those of our listeners and, and future video watchers that they could take hold of?

Joyce Griggs: Sure. absolutely, and I can tell some of the stories and then some of the tips that go along-with that. But one of the things I wanted to stress is that there are some of us who have health conditions that are ongoing, that we're living with.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: Right.

Joyce Griggs: There are others of us that go to our doctor a couple times a year and we think we're kind of, you know, one and done. And what you begin to realize as you start looking at taking care of ourselves and taking care of our health, is that even those of us who are maybe just going to the doctor a couple of times a year, there are still things we can do to get into a partnership with our healthcare providers and really become a partner in that coordination, that coordination of our care, because you never know what's around the corner. So it's really about preparation. So we recommend and really advocate for self-advocacy, in our healthcare, regardless of current health condition.

Some of the things take into consideration. For example, something as simple as looking for a new healthcare provider seems like, "Okay, that should be maybe not so hard. I think about the story, on our blog of Jennifer Sleppin, who is an RN and was diagnosed with hepatitis C. Went into treatment, and this was many years ago. Right now, there are many, many amazing treatments for hepatitis C that cure hepatitis C. In her time, it was before some of these more modern drugs. So she was treated for a long, long time, and she was treated at a, a, a, a teaching hospital known in the parlance as an academic medical center, so she had a great specialist on her team. But then Jennifer got a new job and Jennifer was moving and she h- still needed to continue her treatment. So now, what do you do about a referral?
And a lot of times we get in our car, we get on the airplane, and we move to the new community, and then we think, "Oh, yeah, I guess now it's time to go to the doctor. I better find a doctor," when we, but we've already in advance taken care of internet service where are we gonna go get our nails done, you know, all these other things and the healthcare maybe gets put to the side. So what we recommend is talk to your doctor about referrals before you leave, before you leave the community. Because especially if you have a, a condition that requires a specialist, that doctor or nurse, if you're seeing a nurse practitioner may make that phone call for you and help you to get that referral. So it's critically important to think about these things. You know, put that on your list of if you're moving on your list of something to take care of before, before that move happens.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: Okay. Hopefully you're not hearing the vacuum going on at my house, but welcome to doing these things at home.

Joyce Griggs: (laughs)

Tracey Welson-Rossman: So that's one great tip, which is-

Joyce Griggs: Yeah.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: ... you know, use your current healthcare providers to help you find other health healthcare providers, whether it is, whether you're moving or not moving.

Joyce Griggs: That's right.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: So I would put that as pro-tip number one.

Joyce Griggs: Pro-tip, it's pro-tip number one. The other, in that same vein of, looking for a new healthcare provider, in a recent post, we kind of put together a, a post that takes you through what are the steps that you should take when you're looking for a new healthcare provider because there are many websites that will help you do a real, analysis of your healthcare provider. So you may have a list from your insurance company, because that's the first place we need to go. Let's face it, it's, you know, are they covered? Are they in network? That's the first thing that folks look for. After that, there are websites that you can go to.

And if you go to, www.unitedstatesofhealthcare.com, you'll see the different sites that you can go to where you can get an analysis, put in the name of your doctor, their education and also their specialties that they, that they have, where are they board, in what areas are they board certified, as well as are there any actions against, against these doctors, because you wanna make sure that they have a clean, that they're, that, that they don't have any malpractice or other things, actions against them that would preclude you from wanting to see them as your healthcare provider.

We also include a set of tools for how do you then go about interviewing doctors? Because if you do have choice... Not everyone has choice. We recognize that given where you live and your geography. But if you do have a choice between a couple of providers then we have a list of questions that you can ask them as well as questions that you can ask of the front desk staff, because you are going to be in partnership with this person. So even if you don't have choice, let's just say you're in one of those situations where this is the only game in town, at least by asking these questions, you then begin to get a sense of, "What's their communication style? Does it work with mine? Not really, but that's good to know going into this because I'm gonna have to then maybe do a little more to get what I, to, to get what I need. The office staff, wow, they were really friendly, they really helped me out."

"Now I know what it's gonna take to see this, you know, to get an answer, an email from this doctor in between visits or this nurse practitioner in between visits." So we try to give as many tools as possible to help us in as many situations as we may find ourselves.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: And that's really interesting. I don't think a lot of people think about interviewing their doctor-

Joyce Griggs: Mm-hmm.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: ... like having this set of questions because we feel they have the power.

Joyce Griggs: Yes. Yes. And it really is changing that mindset about... Look, th- the doctor, the nurse practitioner, years of schooling, you're going to them as the expert. But if you were looking for a new accountant or someone to redo your kitchen or someone to work on your car we usually... What do we do first? We go to s- trusted sources, friends, and that's the first thing to do when you're looking for a healthcare provider. And then we talk to a couple, right? So, and then we make a choice based on informed decision-making. We do tend to give our power away a little bit. It is a cultural thing, when it comes to healthcare providers, and so we're all about a reset of, as patients, we need to have a seat at the table and we need to have a voice in our healthcare for our own, for our own good.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: So that's pro-tip number two. And can you give us one more?

Joyce Griggs: Well, the third one that I would give has to do with pharmacists. And pharmacists are really a secret weapon in many ways, community pharmacists. We have a lot of access to pharmacists in our community. We all see our pharmacist many, many more times in a given year than we do our, our, our, our doctors or our nurse practitioners as our healthcare providers. So the pharmacist is a critical member of the team. And I think about the story where their a friend had a very bad reaction to some medication, wound up hospitalized because of it, but then was on a series of medications. So what they did was they took that list of medications and they took it to their pharmacist. And the pharmacist, they are really the side effect experts, even more so than doctors.

It's an important thing to, to know because they know all the medications. And if you're seeing a primary care doctor, maybe a doctor for say diabetes, an endocrinologist, maybe a cardiologist, if you're seeing multiple doctors and they're putting you on multiple medications, they may not know what the other healthcare provider is doing. And so the pharmacist, that's why it's really important, number one, use one pharmacy and have all your medications filled at one pharmacy. Pick one, go there. And then so A, you'll always be able to have your list of medications. And then number two, you can ask your pharmacist to do an intermittent review of your medications, to just look for any issues that there, that, that, that there may or may not be within the list of medications that, that, that you're taking. And of course, they can answer your questions very readily.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: That's a, that's an excellent, excellent tip. And I think that we forget. You know, sometimes we're again, afraid to ask questions because we feel like this is beyond our capability, but, you know, I would just add that fourth pro-tip, which is, you know, feeling confident in asking those questions regardless. But I love that, "Use your pharmacist," and I will let you know that my grandfather was a pharmacist and the-

Joyce Griggs: Oh.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: ... kindest... Yeah. So he's definitely somebody who would have taken that time to set aside and, and talk to you. So tha- that actually may be a little plug for your neighborhood pharmacies versus, you know, just your larger pharmacies. But-

Joyce Griggs: Yeah.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: ... sometimes we don't have that that luxury.

Joyce Griggs: Yeah. One other thing that I'll just say about pharmacies, and I have a lot of pharmacists in my family too, so, it's close to my heart. Even if you don't have, even if you're going to a chain pharmacy, there are usually many chain pharmacies in one community, try to go to the one that isn't busy. Try to go to the one that, even with change, there's a s- there's always gonna be the sleepier one. Try to pick those because you'll be able to get more time and more care.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: Another. And these are so simple. You-

Joyce Griggs: So simple.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: ... know, what you were, what you were talking about are just simple changes that we could make-

Joyce Griggs: That's right.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: ... so that we have, you know, just more information-

Joyce Griggs: That's right.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: … about ourselves. So, Joyce, you know, we, we decided that we were gonna keep this to 20 minutes, and I think we're just about there.

Joyce Griggs: Yep.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: I hope everyone who's watching was able to get some great information. Thank you for your comments. I see us doing this again. I think that Joyce has some more pro-tips and maybe we'll even bring some of her, the people who have written blogs for her, been written about-

Joyce Griggs: [inaudible 00:17:47]

Tracey Welson-Rossman: ... they can talk about their stories.

Joyce Griggs: Yeah.

Tracey Welson-Rossman: So thanks everyone for joining us. This really went fast and I hope that, you were able to get a lot out of it as I have today. There's definitely some tips I've, that I'll be taking.

Joyce Griggs: Thank you, Tracey, and thanks everyone for being here.