In the last few years, healthcare advocacy has become a much more popular profession. People in this line of work are crucial for increasing patient satisfaction and ensuring they get the best coverage when visiting a hospital. With healthcare advocates on your side, you can easily navigate the pitfalls of the medical system and improve your outcomes.
But before you hire an advocate, you must learn more about this service. You must uncover the common misconceptions to get the best value for your money.
Why Are Patient Advocates Important?
Just imagine lying on a hospital bed after a long surgery, not having anyone to help you out with drugs, insurance, and administrative matters. In these situations, we feel especially vulnerable and need someone to take care of us. This is where patient advocates come in handy.
These medical professionals can assist you with all your inquiries and minor chores. They are fountains of valuable information, helping you find and schedule doctors, serving as your mediators, and maximizing your insurance coverage.
Although a patient advocate doesn’t directly operate on you or set a diagnosis, they can help in so many different ways. These medical experts are especially valuable for chronic patients and individuals looking to undergo a life-altering procedure. They will assist you from the initial planning stages all the way to the recovery process.
7 Common Misconceptions About Patient Advocacy
Most people don’t even know much about healthcare advocacy. Even though patients understand that these medical experts are supposed to act on their behalf, they are not sure what kind of assistance they can get. Furthermore, there are also other misconceptions regarding prices and availability.
In the following section, we’ll debunk misconceptions that all patients, but also patient advocates, should know about.
1. Career Prospects
Given that advocacy is a relatively new concept in medicine, people are generally concerned that this profession would give them limited opportunities. As it turns out, similar to any other medical calling, patient advocacy has been on the rise in the last few years.
Almost every large hospital has at least one patient advocate on their payroll. Furthermore, you can also find employment in clinics, goverment and non-government organizations, and private businesses. As a patient advocate, you can even set up your own company without a large investment or having to go through red tape.
2. Second-Rate Profession
Many people consider becoming a patient advocate a form of “settling.” For example, if you didn’t manage to finish a school for nurses or doctors, you become an advocate as the second-best thing. However, as you’ll soon learn, these experts are not only respected among their peers, but you need extensive knowledge to become one.
Individuals in this line of work need to have a good understanding of various medical fields. They must also have extensive knowledge of pharmacology and insurance. To become a great patient advocate, you need to have excellent diagnostic skills and be a fantastic communicator.
3. Advocacy Is For Serious Cases
Another major misconception is that advocacy is only relevant to people with chronic or potentially lethal conditions. As you’ll quickly realize once you start doing this kind of work, everyone can benefit from your service. Whether a patient is looking for the best experts or wants to resolve a dispute with a hospital, you’re the one who’ll need to intervene on their behalf.
In fact, hiring a healthcare professional often pays for itself. These experts can point you in the right direction when it comes to various drug and insurance-related inquiries. They will ensure you get as many hospital days as possible and refund as many costs as possible.
4. One-Size-Fits-All
Although healthcare advocates are often showcased as experts who can deal with all sorts of issues, they provide significantly different services. Each one of them might specialize in a different branch of medicine or have experience with different problems.
You have to browse a plethora of legal, insurance and billing, condition-specific, and general healthcare advocates until you find the right one. While general healthcare advocates sound like the best option, as they can assist you with various inquiries, you might want to find someone who specializes in a specific area to improve your outcomes.
5. Experience Is Vital
Most patient advocates are savvy veterans who have worked in different medical and administrative settings. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need the same kind of expertise to start doing this job.
A common thing for patient advocates is that they have transferred from various fields into healthcare. Perhaps the best example is billing advocates, most of whom come from a financial background. These professionals will make a real difference to your budget, even though they might not understand the first thing about your condition.
6. Substitutes Responsbility
After visiting a hospital for the first time, people usually believe that their health outcomes are directly connected to the doctor’s expertise and therapy. They often wash their hands of any personal responsibility for the success of their recovery process.
A similar thing goes for healthcare advocates. People falsely believe that their personal responsibility stops as soon as they hire one of these experts. As you’ll realize, patient advocates are mainly there to provide timely information. It is up to you to properly act on this information.
7. Advocacy Is Expensive
People often avoid hiring a patient advocate because they don’t want to drain their budget further. This is a somewhat understandable decision, as you’ll likely have to spend some money on doctor’s visits and drugs.
As it turns out, these professionals will actually help you make enormous savings. They can point you to cheaper doctors, hospitals, drugs, and treatments, while also resolving any insurance problems you might have.
Last Thoughts
Whether you’re looking to hire a patient advocate or want to become one, you’ll have to go through lots of common misconceptions. Learn more about the profession before starting a new career. If you’re a patient, we recommend that you browse the best options in your area until you find a suitable advocate to represent you.