Trisha Torrey
Trisha Torrey (Patricia Torrey) is an American author who was misdiagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She is a spokeswoman for patient empowerment and patient advocacy, has written six books on the subjects, was cited as a CNN Hero and is featured in many media outlets. Trisha was owner of IntegriMark Communications, LLC, a marketing consultancy that focused on moving small businesses to the Web. She began her marketing career in 1985 after an eight year teaching career. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bucknell University (Pennsylvania) and a Master of Science degree from Elmira College (New York), both in education.[1]
Advocacy
Torrey's work in patient empowerment and patient advocacy began with her diagnosis in 2004 of Subcutaneous T-cell lymphoma when she was told she had only months to live and was encouraged to undergo chemotherapy to treat it. Through her own efforts, she proved she had been misdiagnosed.[2] She was never treated for cancer.
Shortly thereafter, she began her outreach to others encouraging them to begin taking responsibility for their relation with healthcare systems, warning them of potential medical-financial conflicts of interest, and teaching them how to access their medical records and become more involved in treatment decisions. She advises patients how to record conversations with their physicians so that instructions and diagnoses are understood.
Working directly with patients and caregivers, understanding how sick and often exhausted they were, she determined that they could benefit with assistance from experts in navigating the system. In response, in 2009 she founded both the Alliance of Professional Health Advocates,[3] an organization to help individuals develop a career as patient advocates, and AdvoConnection,[4] a directory of patient advocates which can be used by patients and caregivers to find help.
She is the (former) About.com Expert in Patient Empowerment and Advocacy (2007 - 2014),[5] and she speaks to audiences of patients, providers, employers and industry professionals about collaboration for better outcomes. She is an editor for the Journal of the Society for Participatory Medicine and a member of Regina Holliday's Walking Gallery where public art meets global healthcare.
Books
Torrey has written six books, all self-published by her company DiagKNOWsis Media. Her first book You Bet Your Life! The 10 Mistakes Every Patient Makes (How to Fix Them to Get the Health Care You Deserve) (ISBN 978-0982801420). was first published in 2010, then revised and updated in 2013.
Her second book for patients, published in 2015, is You Bet Your Life! The Top 10 Reasons You Need a Professional Patient Advocate by Your Side (ISBN 978-0982801475).
She has also written four books in the Health Advocate's Career Series:
So You Want to Be a Patient Advocate? Choosing a Career in Health or Patient Advocacy
The Health Advocate's Start and Grow Your Own Practice Handbook (ISBN 978-0982801413), was published in 2012 for those hoping to start a private practice.
The Health Advocate’s Basic Marketing Handbook was first published in 2010. In 2014 the Second Edition (ISBN 978-0982801437) was published. It advises private health advocates how to build their practices and maximize their outreach to the patients and caregivers they serve.
The Health Advocate's Advanced Marketing Handbook is a follow up to the Basic Handbook, and was published in 2014.
Torrey was also a contributor to the iconic Our Bodies, Ourselves, 40th Anniversary Edition published in 2011.
Media
Torrey has been featured in many publications and quoted widely by the media, including print, TV, radio and online. She maintains a master list of these citations at her official website [6]
Those citations include:
- CNN – Has your illness been misdiagnosed? ( September 2007)[7]
- The Wall Street Journal - Your Doctor’s Business is Your Business (November 2007)[8]
- NPR – Choosing a Doctor in the Digital Age (January 2008)[9]
- Health Leader’s Media - Educate Patients to Improve Both Patient and Physician Satisfaction (April 2009[10]
- US News and World Report – Crowd Sourcing Care: Getting Medical Advice on the Web from Other Patients (July 2009)[11]
- USA Today - Your Health: Is a hospital visit in July bad for your well-being? (July 2010)[12]
- MSNBC – July, the Worst Month to Be Hospitalized (July 2010)[13]
- O Magazine - Someone on Your Side, a new prescription for navigating the medical maze. (August 2010)[14]
- Scientific American – The Rise of the Empowered Patient (September 2010)[15]
- Woman’s Day Magazine – The Importance of a Second Opinion (October 2010)[16]
- Physician’s Practice – series of four articles Dealing with “Problem Patients” (May 2011)[17]
- Fox Business – Self-Diagnosing Online: What You Need to Know (July 2011)[18]
- WebMD - Love, Marriage and Health Insurance (August 2011)[19]
- Modern Healthcare – Empowering the Patient (September 2011)[20]
- USA Today - Refuse vaccines and risk dismissal by doctor (November 2011) [21]
- Women's Day - 6 Things your patient advocate wants you to know (March 2012 - print only)
- CNN and Health Magazine - Need a terrific doctor? (March 2012)[22]
- Fox Business – How to Financially Prepare for a Long-Term Medical Treatment (July 2012)[23]
- Redbook Magazine - How to Score a Doctor's Appointment - Fast (Feb 2013 - print only)
- US News & World Report – 5 Tips for a Smooth Doctor's Visit (April 2013)[24]
- CNY Central – Patient advocate says St. Joseph's organ harvesting case is 'so wrong on so many levels' (July 2013)[25]
- US News & World Report – How to Be an Empowered Patient (August 2013)[26]
- Prevention Magazine (Australia) – The Rise of the Empowered Patient (September 2013)[27]
- MedPage Today – Overdiagnosis, Pesky Patient Reviews, More (September 2013)[28]
- CNN - Trusting her intuition led to two cancer diagnoses (December 2013)[29]
- USA Today - Do you check online doctor ratings? 1 in 4 consumers do(February 2014)[30]
- US News & World Report – Managing the Power Dynamic Between Doctors and Patients (April 2014)[31]
- Bottom Line Health – Unconventional Wisdom: 4 Secrets to Avoiding a Misdiagnosis (April 2014)[32]
- Atlanta Journal Constitution – Patients Getting Outside Advice (November 2014)[33]
- New York Times – Doctors as Advocates for Family Leave? (January 2015)[34]
- Washington Post – Check your health records: You may be able to avoid trouble. (June 2015)[35]
Medical journal mentions
- Journal of Clinical Oncology (February 2011) Centralized Review Offers Promise for the Clinician, the Pathologist, and the Patient With Newly Diagnosed Lymphoma (Elaine S. Jaffe, MD)[36]
- Perspectives in Clinical Research (January 2011) Patient advocacy groups: Need and opportunity in India [37] (Kunal Shah and Sunil Garg)
- Journal of Patient Safety (August 2011) The Partnership With Patients: A Call to Action for Leaders [38] (Charles R. Denham, MD)
References
- ↑ "Resumé: Trisha Torrey".
- ↑ "Wrong Diagnosis - Story of Being Misdiagnosed". Patients.about.com. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates - Homepage". Aphadvocates.org. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "When you need a patient advocate, you can find a patient advocate at". AdvoConnection. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Patient Empowerment at About.com - Teaching Patients to Take Charge for their Health & Medical Care". Patients.about.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "News and Headlines - Trisha Torrey, Every Patient's Advocate". Everypatientsadvocate.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ Cohen, Elizabeth (September 19, 2007). "Has your illness been misdiagnosed?". CNN Health. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
- ↑ "Your Doctor's Business Is Your Business". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Choosing a Doctor in the Digital Age". NPR. 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Educate Patients to Improve Both Patient and Physician Satisfaction". Healthleadersmedia.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Getting Medical Advice on the Web from Other Patients - US News and World Report". Health.usnews.com. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ Painter, Kim (2010-06-29). "Your Health: Is a hospital visit in July bad for your well-being". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "July worst month to be hospitalized". Today.msnbc.msn.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Health Advocacy - Medical Help". Oprah.com. 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ Brody, Nicholas. "Pathways » The Rise of the Empowered Patient". Sa-pathways.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Medical Advice - Why You Need a Doctor's Second Opinion at WomansDay.com - Woman's Day". Womansday.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Dealing with 'Problem' Patients". Physicians Practice. 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Self-Diagnosing Online: What You Need to Know". Fox Business. 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Health Insurance Navigator". Health-insurance-navigator.blogs.webmd.com. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Empowering the patient". Modern Healthcare. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ "Refuse vaccines and risk dismissal by doctor – USATODAY.com". Yourlife.usatoday.com. 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2013-10-31.
- ↑ Lowenstein, Kate. "Need a terrific doctor?". Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "How to Financially Prepare for a Long-Term Medical Treatment". Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "5 Tips for a Smooth Doctor's Visit". Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "Patient advocate says St. Joseph's organ harvesting case is 'so wrong on so many levels'". Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "How to Be an Empowered Patient". Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "The Rise of the Empowered Patient" (PDF). Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "Overdiagnosis, Pesky Patient Reviews, More". Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "Trusting her intuition led to two cancer diagnoses". CNN. 2013-12-03. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ "Do you check online doctor ratings? 1 in 4 consumers do".
- ↑ "Managing the Power Dynamic Between Doctors and Patients".
- ↑ "Unconventional Wisdom: 4 Secrets to Avoiding a Misdiagnosis".
- ↑ "Patients Getting Outside Advice".
- ↑ "Doctors as Advocates for Family Leave?".
- ↑ "Check your health records: You may be able to avoid trouble.".
- ↑ Jaffe, Elaine S. (2011-02-22). "Centralized Review Offers Promise for the Clinician, the Pathologist, and the Patient With Newly Diagnosed Lymphoma". Journal of Clinical Oncology 29: 1398–1399. doi:10.1200/JCO.2010.34.2741.
- ↑ "Patient advocacy groups: Need and opportunity in India". Perspect Clin Res 2: 4–7. 2013-03-25. doi:10.4103/2229-3485.76283. PMC 3088956. PMID 21584175.
- ↑ Charles R. Denham, MD. "The Partnership With Patients: A Call to Action for Leaders". HCC Corp. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
External links
- Official website
- Every Patient's Advocate
- Patient Empowerment Expert at About.com
- DiagKNOWsis Media
- AdvoConnection Directory of Patient Advocates (US and Canada)
- Alliance of Professional Health Advocates (international membership)