Assert Your Health Care Rights With The Guidance Of A Healthcare Advocate.
The staffing shortage that we are seeing in health care facilities can have an impact on your health, your recovery, and your medical treatment and rehabilitation. Strong health care advocacy is more important than ever and will serve to protect you and your rights. You must assert your health care rights–the more you do, the better care you get.
What Does A Healthcare Advocate Do?
Healthcare advocacy can help to improve the quality of care that older adults receive in medical and rehabilitation facilities. Healthcare advocates are individuals who help patients navigate the healthcare system and ensure that they receive the care they need.
There are a number of things that healthcare advocates can do to help older adults, including:
- Helping patients understand their rights and responsibilities
- Helping patients communicate with their providers
- Helping patients find resources to pay for care
- Monitoring the quality of care that patients receive
Healthcare advocacy is an important part of ensuring that older adults receive the quality of care they deserve. If you are an older adult or the caregiver of an older adult, you should consider working with a healthcare advocate to help you navigate the healthcare system and ensure that you receive the care you need.
Critical Areas Of Health Care Advocacy
A healthcare advocate will make sure you are getting the right and best care. Here are the areas where advocacy is critical:
1. When a medical event occurs and you must spend time in a facility such as a Medicare rehab bed. Know that you are able to receive 100 days of rehab after hospital discharge–we must advocate for the patient to receive the days and not be discharged early because the facility does not understand the standard for discharge. Is the therapy you are receiving causing you to decline? Only if the therapy is causing you to decline can they discharge you from the bed.
2. When Medicare Advantage programs are being used. Medicare does not cover long-term care and other services which many people do not know which causes hardship when trying to use Medicare for those expenses. You need an advocate to help you to help you get back on traditional Medicare. You can use a change in circumstance (like a medical event) but the process is complicated and you will need assistance Navigating through the health care maze takes assertiveness, knowledge of health care processes and the presence of a healthcare advocate.
Patients with a healthcare advocate get better care. Those without get the worst care.
Your Next Step: Find A Healthcare Advocate
We are the only Elder Law Firm in Gainesville that provides not only expert legal care for our senior clients, but also a healthcare advocate called an Elder Care coordinator. Please call office and our Elder Law attorney team can help you with the process. You can reach us at 352.379.1900.
