Customized for your situation, a personalized advocacy plan may include:

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Medical Record Review, Organization, and Translation

• Collect relevant medical records and review in detail.

• Create a concise medical history summary and review it with you.

• Translate medical jargon into plain language; review your laboratory, diagnostic and imaging results.

• Provide an overview of your medical status.

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Medication Review: Prescriptions, Over-the-Counter Drugs, and Supplements

• Review and reconcile all prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, and supplements (especially important with different electronic medical record systems).

• Update medication lists.

• Check that medications are being taken properly, minimizing the risk of drug interactions and adverse drug reactions.

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Help Assembling the Right Team, Facilities, and Resources

• Research and identify appropriate providers and treatment facilities to consider for your medical condition, or when a second opinion is desired.

• Serve as a sounding board when several options are being considered; discuss pros and cons, risks and benefits in detail.

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Coordinating Care Among All Providers

• Help you get the most out of your appointment; prepare questions and empower you to advocate for yourself.

• Attend medical appointments, as needed; ask questions when appropriate. Debrief after appointment and provide written summary. A 2018 study from Brown University School of Public Health revealed that patients remember only 49% of the information their doctors gave them.* 

• Help coordinate communication between your providers with regard to test results, treatments and recommendations. We maintain an updated, concise Medical Summary document that is helpful for providers and can help avoid redundant tests.

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Medical Research

• Review medical literature and studies that apply to your symptoms or diagnosis for clarity of  your treatment options.

• Review the data in an effort to identify alternative medical or surgical approaches, including risk/benefit ratio.

• Review literature for other possible courses of action for an undiagnosed condition.

• Research clinical studies that may be applicable to you.

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Inpatient Hospital Advocacy

• Act as a surrogate family member with an eye out for safety to help prevent hospital-acquired infections, medication errors and falls.

• Communicate with physicians during hospital rounds.

• Advocate for longer hospital stay if earlier discharge is unsafe.

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Facilitate Care Transition

• Ensure hospital discharge summary and instructions are transferred promptly.

• Reconcile medication list before discharge from hospital, and again upon admittance to skilled nursing facility or rehabilitation facility.  

• After hospital discharge confirm all follow-up appointments, blood tests, and other procedures are scheduled and completed.

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Maintain Communication with Loved Ones

• Provide remote family members with updates at requested intervals, especially when loved one is hospitalized.

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Advance Directive Assistance

• Assemble a personal Medical Document Kit for emergency medical services or emergency room visits, including an updated medication list, insurance information, brief summaries of vital information, a POLST (physician order for life-saving treatment) form, and a copy of your Advance Directive. 

• Assist you in completing forms and giving them to appropriate providers.