When healthcare gets messy.
Who needs an Advocate?
Never heard of a Healthcare or Patient Advocate?
Then now is the time to get familiar, not after a healthcare crisis emerges. A healthcare advocate can help to:
Improve communication between medical teams, you, and your family
Manage inpatient care to ensure hospital responsiveness
Explain a new or complicated diagnosis and help obtain second opinions
Oversee transfers and discharges, and even the selection of long-term care
Be the dedicated eyes and ears when you can’t be there for your loved one when they need careful, caring support.
Doesn’t the hospital or my insurance provide one?
YES! Some do. However, the advocate provided by the insurance company or hospital is employed by the insurance company or the hospital. Not to imply they will not do a good job helping to answer your questions or solve a grievance, but keep in mind where their obligation ultimately lies.
An independent healthcare advocate gives dedicated support to you alone, focusing only on what’s best for you, not the organization or overall case load.
Isn’t every nurse an advocate?
While every nurse can, and should, advocate for their patients as the greatest task within the nursing role, not all nurses can advocate for you personally.
Nurses often juggle multiple patients at once, which limits the time they can spend advocating for each individual. Their obligation to provide care to many means advocacy for you sometimes takes a backseat to others’ urgent medical needs. It may sound unfair, but it’s a nurse’s duty to prioritize the most critically ill first, not the most complicated.
An Independent Healthcare Advocate works solely for you, and you are the only priority.
