How Can I Prevent Repeat Hospital Visits?

If you have symptoms that are not yet diagnosed, you may be led to repeated ER visits for symptoms of pain relief. You may need a specialized medical visit, but the wait is too long. Perhaps you saw a specialist, yet your symptoms were poorly addressed or your condition was undiagnosed? While a visit to the ER may temporarily relieve your symptoms, it is often a bandaid for the underlying issue, and not addressing the underlying root cause. Fortunately, a private patient advocate can help get you out of this cycle and prevent hospital readmissions.

What is a Private (Independent) Patient Advocate?

A private patient advocate, like at Pathway Patient Advocates, is an unbiased individual who is not affiliated with a specific health system or insurance company. He or she is someone who works for you to help navigate you through your health challenges. In addition, with a private patient advocate you never have to feel alone. 

How can a Private Patient Advocate help?

A good private patient advocate assists with many factors to help prevent repeated hospital visits. 

Medical records review

A private patient advocate can review medical records to understand what has already been evaluated, diagnosed, excluded, and managed. Reviewing medical records also helps identify errors in care, and gaps in evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment. It can also help identify inaccurate documentation, which can then be submitted for redaction/ update.

Case Evaluation

A private patient advocate can review your case and help identify things that may have not been considered; such as specialized testing, or consideration of applying for a clinical trial. 

Scheduling the Right Outpatient vVsit

Many times you may know of a specialist that you would like to see, however are having difficulty obtaining the appointment. This can be for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the specialist you are seeking is not covered by you insurance, or you cannot obtain a scheduled appointment. You may not know which specialist is right for your symptoms or condition. A private patient can help with this, including helping find the proper specialist as well as arranging the visit and adequately preparing for the visit. In addition, private patient advocates can attend the visit as needed. 

Obtaining the Necessary Resources (medications, testing, procedures etc)

After you find a suitable plan of care for the right specialist, it is not uncommon to be faced with obstacles in obtaining the necessary resources. For example, your insurance may not cover the necessary medication. Or perhaps there is a medication shortage and alternative options are necessary. Necessary testing and procedures may not be available locally or lengthy wait times may be present. A private patient advocate can help with all this, is experienced with overcoming these challenges, and is familiar with navigating the system.

Let a private patient advocate help keep you out of the hospital. Find the proper assistance and medical care needed to achieve a better quality of life.