Celebrating Patient Advocacy

Emily Bernstein and Mia Cooper

Patient Advocacy is an incredible field of work that helps many individuals in the United States negotiate and understand their healthcare. Last week, Emily was able to attend the Healthcare Advocate Summit and speak on an informational panel about her work as a patient advocate. The Health Advocate Summit is the premier gathering for advocates to convene and discuss current industry trends and best practices. We had a great gathering of independent advocates that connected on topics such as billing advocacy, advance directives, end-of-life planning, and having difficult conversations with clients.

Emily Bernstein (center) speaking on the Heathcare Advocate Summit

Emily shared, "I was able to meet with the directors of the Patient Advocacy Certification Board as a subject matter expert to discuss new competencies and best practices for new certified advocates. I met with several representatives from pharmaceutical companies, as I am learning more and more about the role that advocacy plays in that industry, as well as the independent advocacy world. They provide patients with assistance accessing payment programs, copay assistance, and other ways for people to afford their medication." Emily also shared that there were interesting vendors that shared new information about what’s going on in the patient advocacy space.

On Tuesday morning, Emily presented on a panel with a group of diverse advocates that all practice different forms of advocacy. They had one representative from an organization that bills Medicare called Umbra, one advocate from the UK who spoke about the industry in that country, an independent private pay consultant, and a representative from HealthPair-a nonprofit that is promoting health literacy among college students at Boston University. Emily shared, "I spoke about the Medicaid billing I have done, the differences between a Patient Advocate and a Community Health Worker, and the government grants and contracts I have received. I also spoke about health literacy as a way to support individuals who cannot afford a full-pay patient advocate to educate themselves on how to navigate the healthcare system."

Emily and the other previous recipients of the Advocate of the Year Award

Patient Advocates are just one piece of the amazing conglomerate that is healthcare advocacy. We are so lucky to have a community of individuals to support us in our goal to help people understand and afford their healthcare. And of course, it's not all work! Emily shared some fun they had too! "We also were able to get off the 'Strip' to enjoy an incredible meal at Ada's Wine Bar! All in all, the trip to Vegas was fun, productive, and extremely motivating to encourage the next phase of Wheelhouse Health!"