Patient advocacy

Patient advocacy

A Patient Advocate acts as a liaison between patient and healthcare provider. The Patient Advocate is a vital instrument to both patient and physician in the optimal delivery of healthcare. The advocate is generally knowledgeable in healthcare practices and compliance. The advocate may be present for healthcare appointments and notify the healthcare provider of patient compliance issues and potential physician communication improvements. The advocate will maintain communication with the patient and healthcare provider to help ensure patient understanding of procedures, thereby reducing fear and increasing patient compliance, resulting in a higher percentage of successful treatment. The Patient Advocate may provide medical literature research service to the patient, family or healthcare provider as requested. The Patient Advocate will assist with billing and accounting as well as any home care and maintenance issues that may arise for an ill or disabled person. In the case of employment issues, the Patient Advocate may engage in communication with the employer to negotiate a mutually beneficial solution for the employer and the ill or injured individual. In the case where compliance standards are not met on either the patient side or in healthcare delivery or by employer/partner/corporation, the Patient Advocate may be in the position of liaising with corporate oversight or legal personnel to further negotiate such issues. It is the duty of a Patient Advocate to maintain patient privacy according to local and national laws, treating all patient and family information as privileged and protected. It is the duty of the Patient Advocate to follow any referrals for legal, medical or administrative personnel to assure that the patient is never abandoned during the process. It is also incumbent upon the Patient Advocate to be actively engaged in following general HMO and compliance rule changes as well as broad legislative changes and to lobby for a healthcare system that is realistic for patients and practitioners, not merely beneficial to corporations.

Patient advocacy refers to speaking on a patient's behalf in order to protect their rights and help them obtain needed information and services. The role of patient advocate is frequently assumed by nurses, social workers, and other healthcare providers. Some hospitals, health insurance companies, and other healthcare organizations employ people specifically to assume this role.

Nursing and patient advocacy

Patient advocacy is fundamental to nursing. The American Nurses Association (ANA) includes advocacy in its definition of nursing as "the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations." [ANA. "Nursing's Social Policy Statement, Second Edition", 2003, p. 6 & "Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice", 2004, p. 7.]

Advocacy in nursing finds its theoretical basis in nursing ethics. For instance, the ANA's "Code of Ethics for Nurses" includes language relating to patient advocacy::*The nurse's primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community.:*The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient. [cite web | title="Code of Ethics for Nurses - Provisions" | author=ANA | url=http://www.nursingworld.org/ethics/chcode.htm | accessdate=2006-10-15]

References

ee also

*Patient empowerment


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