patient advocate?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

This may not be quite appropriate to ask here but I am putting out feelers wherever - so don't snark me!

I have a serious family medical situation developing (elderly parent, etc. etc) and am trying to find out if there is a role player person such as "patient advocate" or doctor-patient liaison or patient therapist for medical issues. The gist being that the med stuff is hard to navigate/translate into simpler terms, and the various options are also hard to ferret out/decide between.

Does such a profession exist: someone who is medically informed and is capable of talking to both Drs + patients?

Comments

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to chime in with a "yes, this does exist." At work, we have a health advocate service that comes along with our health insurance. (http://www.healthadvocate.com/) It was really helpful while I was trying to work out issues with insurance. However, I don't know if a system like this is too expensive to get as an individual -- there are probably nonprofits out there that do the same thing.

"Our highly-trained Personal Health Advocates, typically registered nurses, are backed by a staff of medical directors and administrative experts. When you call for assistance, you will be assigned a Personal Health Advocate who will take responsibility for helping you...Simply put, we help to make sure that you get the most from your health care experience. We are objective and independent."