DNP 820 Health Policy and Advocacy

Module 8 Discussion (DNP 820 Health Policy and Advocacy Full Course)

DQ1 Describe your real-world advocacy strategy to you classmates. Comment and give suggestions.

DQ2 Evaluate the importance of mentors in carrying out your strategy. Do you have one?

 

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Healthcare advocacy strategies

Introduction

As a patient, you have the right to choose your healthcare provider and make decisions about your treatment. You can also ask questions and receive answers from your medical team or any other member of the healthcare team, including nurses, assistants, physicians, nurses practitioners (NPs), certified nurse midwives (CNM) and physician assistants (PAs). You may not always be satisfied with the care you receive—but it’s important to understand how you can get better service in the future.

Know your rights.

As a patient, you have rights. As a consumer, you have rights. As an individual who lives in the United States and has access to healthcare services through your job or by accessing the state-run health care system at work (or other organizations), you also have rights. So what are these things?

As patients and consumers of healthcare services:

• You can expect that when getting treatment at any given hospital or clinic, there will be someone on staff who speaks English so that you can understand what’s going on with your treatment without having to rely on an interpreter. If someone isn’t speaking English well enough for them to provide this service effectively then it’s likely because they don’t speak any language other than English themselves — which means that patients may not receive adequate care if they don’t know how much time has passed since their last appointment—or if they simply want clarification about something during an exam like “what does this mean?”

Identify your advocate

In order to be an effective advocate, you must identify who will be your advocate. If you’re not sure who it is, ask yourself these questions:

• What do I need help with?

• Who can help me achieve the goals that are important to me?

Explore professionals and experts

It’s important to speak with your doctor, but you should also talk to other patients and professionals about their experiences. Your family and friends may have valuable insights into what is working for them in healthcare.

Review insurance coverage

You should review your insurance coverage to make sure that you have the proper coverage and that it covers all of the things that matter to you.

• Check for errors in billing statements. Make sure that charges are accurate, and if there’s an error, contact your insurer immediately (and keep in mind that some insurers may require a letter from a medical professional).

• Review medical records and claims. The more information available about a particular case, the better equipped you’ll be to work with an expert who can help solve problems related to billing or treatment decisions (which we will discuss further below).

• Check prescription coverage: Look at each prescription as well as any refills before paying anything out of pocket; look at how many days’ worth of medications need refills before calling up pharmacy chains; check whether there’s any over-the-counter equivalent available without filling out unnecessary paperwork first–all these factors could save money down the road!

Review medical records

Reviewing your medical records is an important way to understand what is in your file, whether it’s a general overview or more detailed information. This can help you identify gaps in care, as well as issues with the quality of care you received.

Reviewing your medical records should be part of any type of advocacy strategy because it will give you a better sense of how much time has been spent on each aspect of treatment and how effective those treatments were.

Review billing statements

If you’re unable to understand how your health insurance company has billed you, ask for an explanation. You can also ask if there is a list of all charges and fees associated with your care.

You should also review your billing statements regularly to make sure that they are accurate. If there are any items on the bill that don’t seem right, contact the doctor or hospital directly and ask them if they can explain what was done during your visit (or refer you to someone who will).

If possible, request an itemized bill from the provider before agreeing to pay anything; this will allow you time to investigate any discrepancies between what was billed and what actually happened during treatment so that no money surprises come later down road when bills arrive unexpectedly late due in large part because insurance companies do not keep track of all transactions made with providers until after hours which means patients may suffer financial hardship due delays caused by late payments by insurers themselves.”

You have control of your medical care

You have control over your medical care. You can choose your doctor and plan your appointments, which means you can choose a doctor that’s right for you. And if something goes wrong during treatment, it’s up to you whether or not to seek another opinion or treatment option.

The right to ask questions is also at stake when it comes to choosing a healthcare provider: If there are any questions about what will be done during surgery (or any other procedure), then those should be addressed before going forward with the procedure itself—and asking those questions directly helps ensure that everyone involved understands exactly what needs doing in order for everything else being done beforehand too!

Finally, having access means being able to make decisions about how much care (if any) one wants from their doctors—so long as those decisions aren’t made based solely upon cost concerns related somehow back into billing practices themselves.”

Conclusion

It’s important to remember that there are many options available to you. The best way to find the right healthcare provider and advocate is to be proactive and ask questions. By doing so, you can help yourself make more informed decisions about what type of care you want or need, as well as how much it will cost.