Ruth’s Experience with Guided Patient Services

In honor of Private Professional Patient Advocate Week, we are featuring Annette Ticoras, M.D., of Guided Patient Services. Annette has shared the story of one of her patients, Ruth, who had an extremely successful experience with Guided Patient Services, located in Westerville, Ohio. To learn more about Ruth’s story, keep reading!

“In mid-October of 2015, Ruth was feeling exhausted, underwater, and fearful of what the future held. Her husband of 42 yrs had suffered a massive stroke, months prior and was being discharged to a rehab facility. Without local family for support, Ruth had always depended on a strong support system made up of long-time friends. Unfortunately, her support was dwindling as retired friends left the area for the winter. Ruth was now faced with understanding the ever-changing clinical situation, processing volumes of complex information, and making sound health care decisions for her beloved husband— alone. Ruth wanted support and knew right where to find it. She had heard about Guided Patient Services and the advocacy and navigation services the company provided months earlier and had tucked the resource away—just in case.

After months of advocating for her husband on her own, Ruth wanted the peace of mind and assurance that comes from having a knowledgeable, experienced healthcare guide by her side. Since joining forces, Ruth and her private health advocate, Annette, have overcome many obstacles and been faced with innumerable health care choices and decisions. Options regarding available treatments and optimal care are carefully researched, pursued, and discussed. Care appointments for Ruth’s husband are coordinated, while vital medical team meetings and communications are handled efficiently by Annette, who always keeps Ruth well-informed. With Annette’s medical knowledge and clinical experience, Ruth is now confident in the choices she makes for her husband today and for the future.

Every day, stories like Ruth’s take place in central Ohio. Patients with a new or complicated diagnosis are confused and overwhelmed, others are uncertain of how to navigate the complexity of the healthcare maze, and a growing number of seniors have no family to assist with health care issues.

Private Professional Patient Advocates and Navigators to the rescue!

A relatively new phenomenon, private patient advocates are establishing advocacy practices across the country. Written about and discussed most recently in O Magazine, NPR, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and other news organizations, these advocates are filling the void caused by so many changes and challenges in healthcare.

Among the services private professional patient advocates provide are:

• Researching diagnosis and treatment options
• Helping patients understand their providers’ treatment recommendations and options
• Accompaniment to surgical and outpatient appointments
• Hospital/ER bedside monitoring
• Health partner for “elder orphans” (those without family or friends who want to prepare for future health care events)
• Liaison for an out-of-town family with loved ones in nursing homes
• And many more

These private advocates are being hired by patients, parents of children with difficult medical challenges, and the adult children of older people who need assistance from someone else because they themselves must be at work all day, or because they live out-of-town.”

If you or someone you know needs the help of a patient advocate, or if you are interested in pursuing this career path, contact Annette by clicking this link and visiting her company’s website.