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What kind of services do you provide?
Services include, but are not limited to, the following |
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Providing general information to client
about his/her diagnosis or treatment made by
client's physician |
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Providing information to client's treating
physician regarding client's needs and
exchanging information with client's
physician |
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Providing general wellness counseling |
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Accompanying client to doctor's appointments
or hospital visits at the request of client |
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Assisting client in finding cost-effective
approaches to health care |
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Assisting client in understanding hospital
protocols in an effort to optimize any
inpatient care |
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Assisting client to find other providers or
institutions as needed for second opinions
or other care |
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Assisting client with respect to end-of-life
care |
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Providing emotional support for client |
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Answering client's general health questions |
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Assisting client in locating sources of
alternative medical therapies, as desired
and requested by client |
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Assisting client with medical claims and
billing issues from health care insurers and medical
providers |
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Do you make housecalls or clinic/hospital visits? |
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Yes, we do. Anywhere in the Greater Houston Area, we
can visit you at home, at work, at the doctor's office, or
at the hospital. |
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Do you provide services for clients located outside the
Greater Houston area? |
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Yes, partially. Remote service can be provided via
telephone or video conferencing to clients outside the
Greater Houston and surrounding areas. Remote service
can also be provided to clients residing in the State of
Connecticut. In-person services, however, are not provided
outside the Greater Houston area. |
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Do you provide transportation for patients to or from
clinic/hospital visits? |
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No. We are not a transportation service, but if you
check any major internet search engine, you can find a list
of local companies that do provide medical transportation
for patients. |
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| Do you provide
medical services like a doctor would? |
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No. In our role as patient advocates, we serve as
educators and mediators to help you get the best possible care
from your medical team. However, neither I nor any
other representative of Houston Patient Advocacy can serve as a substitute for
having your own doctor. There are various legal,
ethical, and logistical factors that would not allow a
patient advocacy practice to provide the medical services of
a doctor's practice. |
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Services NOT provided by anyone in this patient
advocacy practice include |
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Prescribing or administration of medication of any kind |
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Ordering lab tests or diagnostic studies of
any kind, or interpreting any
such lab tests or diagnostic studies |
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Client referrals to a particular physician
or other specialist |
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Diagnosis of any illness or health
condition, whether physical or mental |
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Serving as medical power-of-attorney or
decision maker |
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Physical assistance with activities of daily
living |
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Rendering any medical opinion with
respect to any symptoms of client |
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Providing a treatment plan with respect
to any of the client's medical conditions or
concerns |
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Providing emergency care of any kind |
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Physical, mental, or other examinations of
any kind |
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Manipulation of medical equipment |
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Telemedicine services |
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Do you make medical decisions for the patient? |
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Absolutely NOT. As patient advocates, our role is to
educate the patient so that he/she can make the best medical
decisions for him/herself, in consultation with the medical
care providers. If the patient does not have
decision-making capacity, the decision-making role would
fall to his/her next of kin or designated medical power of
attorney, which does not include anyone from Houston Patient
Advocacy. |
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Would my medical team or hospital object to my hiring a
private patient advocate? |
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They shouldn't, and in my experience they typically
don't after I
explain the role we can play and the positive impact we can
have in resolving the gaps in communication that sometimes
develop between the medical team and patients/families.
Good communication between all parties is in everyone's
interest. |
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Do you accept insurance? |
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No. At this time, insurance does not provide coverage for
patient advocacy services. Hopefully, that will change
someday when insurers realize the need for patient
advocates. It would start by people demanding coverage
for patient advocacy services from their health insurance
companies. |
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Can I pay for services from my HSA/FSA account? |
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Maybe. You would need to talk to your HSA/FSA plan
administrator to make sure, but there are instances of
payments for patient advocacy services that have been made
from HSA/FSA accounts. |
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What are the plans and costs? |
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The Hourly Rate is $250/hour.
Time is billed based on rounded 5-min increments for
services such as, but not limited to, face-to-face visits,
phone calls, e-mails, fax, instant messaging/texting, video
conferencing, research time, documentation time, document
review time, roundtrip travel time (for out of office visits), wait time
(for accompanying clients to medical appointments), etc.
Services provided locally (within Greater Houston, TX area)
include house calls, accompanying to medical appointments,
advocating while hospitalized, and assisting with medical
billing/insurance issues. Services provided remotely
(limited to the State of Texas) include consultations via
phone or video conferencing but exclude in-person services.
HPA also offers 90-minute health history reviews to go over
one's medical history and medication list in order to help
the client better understand his/her health and what to ask
his/her doctor(s) about regarding it. The client also
receives a written and/or electronic copy of the health
history that can be useful to to save time and provide
important details for any new health care providers or
emergency personnel. The cost of the 90-minute
health history review is a flat fee of
the following:
$350 if done outside HPA's office under 20 miles away
$400 if done between 20 miles and under 40 miles from HPA's
office
$450 if done 40 miles or more away from HPA's office
$300 if done inside HPA's office or remotely (via telephone
or video conferencing)
We also offer corporate plans for healthcare or
non-healthcare related companies to utilize, which includes
a FREE trial of housecall-based 90 minute health reviews
that are free for its employees, customers, or patients.
If interested, please call for further details in order to
set up a trial.
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Is it cost-effective to spend money hiring a
medically-trained patient advocate? |
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With medical care and health insurance costs
spiraling out of control and costly medical mistakes
happening all too frequently, hiring a medically-trained
patient advocate can help you SAVE money, time, health, and
peace of mind in several ways.
Medically-trained patient advocates can:
(1) Better
educate you about your care, so that you make better
health choices and utilize the medical system in a more
cost-effective manner.
(2) Review your health records and current medical care to
make sure you are getting the best care possible from your
medical team, thereby decreasing the chance of medical
mistakes which can cost you a fortune (not to mention your
life).
(3) Provide better communication with your health care
providers by spending more time to gather information about
you to pass along to the health care team so that they
understand how to take care of you better.
(4) Give you and your family peace of mind by directly
representing you and your interests in a potentially
intimidating, stressful health care system, so that you and
your family don't have to "go it alone".
(5) Help you resolve medical claims and billing issues by
being able to effectively communicate with your insurer and
medical providers, thereby directly saving you money.
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Any examples of how hiring a medically-trained patient
advocate can be effective? |
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Case
Study 1:
You Can’t Control When You Get Sick
(Based on actual case. Names,
places, and other identifiers altered for privacy
protection.)
Without An Advocate
Mary suffered an attack of severe vertigo
late one night. Her
doctor’s office was closed and the answering service advised
her to go directly to the Emergency Room.
After waiting several
hours and undergoing expensive tests, Mary was told there
was no obvious cause for her vertigo.
She was given
Antivert (an anti-dizziness medication) and told to contact
her primary physician if the vertigo didn’t improve.
Despite taking the medication, she continued to have
symptoms and finally went to her doctor where Mary was later
diagnosed with BPV (benign positional vertigo) – a condition
easily treated by “head turning maneuvers.”
Mary wasted $2,500 (not covered by her insurance due to her deductible)
and lost numerous hours on a medical workup that was
unnecessary – and nonproductive.
Most importantly, Mary suffered unnecessarily for
weeks.
With An Advocate
Liz also suffered an attack of vertigo.
Her primary doctor couldn’t see her for a week, so
Liz called Dr. Rajan who was available that same day.
He listened to her symptoms and informed Liz about
the different potential causes of vertigo and how they are
treated. Dr. Rajan
advised her to go to a specific urgent care clinic for
same-day treatment, and to ask about the possibility of BPV.
He also provided written information about “head
turning maneuvers.”
Liz
was diagnosed with BPV and treated that same day. By that
evening, her vertigo was gone.
Case
Study 2: An
Inpatient Crisis Prevented
(Based on actual case. Names,
places, and other identifiers altered for privacy
protection.)
Before Advocate
Jerry was hospitalized with multiple
medical problems, including cancer that required
chemotherapy. After
Jerry’s first round of chemotherapy, he suffered septic
shock. (Sepsis is an infection that progresses quickly;
unless recognized and treated early, the infection can prove
fatal.)
It took Jerry nearly
two weeks in Intensive Care to recover, leaving his
out-of-state relatives deeply concerned about Jerry’s level
of care and his vulnerability to future treatments.
After Advocate
Jerry’s closest relative hired Dr. Rajan
to serve as Jerry’s (and the family’s) on-site advocate.
Dr. Rajan reviewed
Jerry’s records and spoke with both the patient and his
medical providers daily in order to communicate an ongoing
updated status report to the patient and his family as well
as answer questions they may have.
Following Jerry’s
second round of chemotherapy, he appeared fine, but by early
afternoon, he developed a slight fever. By late afternoon,
the fever was up to 100.0 degrees.
Further, his blood pressure was starting to drop.
Despite the impending danger, Jerry’s doctors were not alerted because
the orders in the medical chart stated the doctor should be
called if his temperature exceeded 100.4 degrees.
Dr. Rajan was visiting the patient that afternoon,
recognized the concerning downward trend in vital signs, and
alerted Jerry’s doctors. A course of antibiotics was
immediately started, which prevented the development of
shock. The infection was successfully cleared in a few days.
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| What type of
payment do you accept? |
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For local services we accept cash, check, credit/debit card (Visa/Mastercard/Discover/Amex),
or Paypal. For remote services, we accept credit/debit
card or Paypal. |
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| By what methods
do you communicate? |
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For local services, we communicate with clients in person,
by phone, or by email, depending on the client's needs. The
first meeting, however, is done in person. For remote
services we communicate by phone, email, instant messaging,
or video conferencing. |
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| Where are you
located? |
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Our office is located at 6800 West Loop South, Suite 460. It
is on the corner of Loop 610 and Bellaire Blvd inside the
BB&T building, which is across from
the Frost Bank building. |
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What are your office hours? |
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Office hours are from 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. (Monday - Friday) by appointment
only, but before/after hours/weekend consultations CAN be
arranged by appointment, depending on availability. |
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| Do you accept
walk-ins? |
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No. It is by appointment only, so that we'll know when to
expect you. However, if you need an immediate appointment,
just call beforehand, and we will take you in if we're available. |
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Do you take
emergency calls? |
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No.
If you are having a medical emergency, please dial 911 to go the nearest emergency room. |
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| Do you speak
Spanish? |
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| Sí,
podemos hablar en español también. |