48. Patients Impacting Health Policy Through Government Leadership

Deirdre Gilberts is a patient's rights advocate, author, entrepreneur, and writer. She serves as founder and National Director of the National Medical Malpractice Advocacy Association, created in 2011 due to her daughter Jocelyn's death by medical error. Deirdre activates high standards of ethics and morality to ensure non-abuse of the powers entrusted to the medical profession by the American people.

The repeated refusal to take constitutional safeguards that protect individuals from immoral equality has been the defining reason for Deirdre’s running for Governor of Texas. Born and raised in Houston, she has earned her M.A. in Educational Administration and B.S. in Political Science and Mass Communication from Prairie View A&M University.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

· Deirdre’s motivations for running for Governor of Texas

· The relationship between health policy and government to healthcare

· How patients can become more involved in health policy

· The Greater National Advocates resource founded by L. Bradley Schwartz

· Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act and limitations on health systems’ legal liability during the COVID-19 pandemic

In this episode...

The United States has no constitutional safeguards that protect individuals from immoral equality in healthcare systems. Many healthcare policies support systemic racism and have lasting effects on medical injustices. Thus, who is elected to office and the decisions they make directly affect healthcare outcomes. Deirdre shares that she is running for Governor of Texas in honor of her daughter Jocelyn and ensuring accountability for medical negligence.

Having the informed consent of our health keeps us healthy, and community partnerships with hospitals are pivotal for holding health systems accountable. Given that medical injustices come about when patients’ medical records are inaccessible, patients are encouraged to converse with legislative leaders, ask physicians questions, and educate themselves with available information.

In this episode of the Patient Partner Innovation Community podcast, Desiree Bradley is joined by Deirdre Gilberts, National Director of the NMMAA in Missouri City, TX, to discuss efforts to defend safeguards that prevent harm from medical error.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

National Medical Malpractice Advocacy Association - https://www.nmmaa.org/ The Greater National Advocates - https://www.gnanow.org/

Congressional Research Service’s report on the Prep Act - https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10443 Prep Act - https://www.congress.gov/109/plaws/publ148/PLAW-109publ148.pdf#page=140