Faq
Why do I need to hire a concierge medical patient advocate or holistic health coach?
You need to hire a private patient advocate to represent and guide you in the medical system for the same reason you would hire a private attorney to represent and guide you in the legal system. Both systems can be confusing to navigate alone, and doctors and nurses working for medical systems often do not have enough time to spend with you to the degree that you may need, whether it be explaining your health, coordinating care between different groups, or figuring out a mystery diagnosis or complex patient. And if you’re dealing with insurance claim denials or large medical bills, you may find yourself receiving little to no help from either the insurance company or medical providers, leaving you to struggle alone.
The reason you would hire a holistic health coach is that you need someone with both the time and expertise to help you get better health and reduce the need for pharmaceutical pills, medical procedures, and surgeries. Most chronic diseases are caused by a combination of six self-manageable factors (i.e. THE ALGORITHM OF SIXTM) which are:
(1) improper nutrition
(2) lack of exercise
(3) lack of sleep
(4) stress management problems (at home and/or work, including any addictions)
(5) isolation (familial, social, and/or spiritual)
(6) environmental factors (e.g. toxicities, allergens, etc).
Most doctors in medical practice lack the time and integrative holistic training to address these issues, and instead focus treatment on a disease specific regimen of medical pills, procedures, and surgeries, which can be costly, may have untoward side effects that make things worse, and at best will only patch up the one disease that is being treated until you get another disease process requiring another set of pills, procedures, and surgeries.
That is why Houston Patient Advocacy provides a dual conventional and holistic trained doctor to serve as your personal integrative medical health coach and patient advocate, who can spend the time needed to help you address the drivers of chronic disease (HPA’s Algorithm of SixTM Program) in order to help you lose weight and reduce your dependency on prescription drugs, medical procedures, and surgeries. Furthermore, your medical health coach/advocate can work with you and your existing medical team(s) to help better coordinate care and achieve better health outcomes.
What kind of services do you provide?
Services include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Providing information to client about his/her diagnoses, diagnostic studies, or treatments done by client’s physician
- Assisting in care coordination, including providing information to client’s providers regarding client’s health and needs and exchanging medical records
- Providing wellness counseling, health coaching, and weight loss coaching
- Accompanying clients to doctor’s appointments or hospital visits at request of client to help review and explain care provided and exchange information with client’s doctors (limited in-person to Greater Houston and surrounding areas)
- Assisting client in finding cost-effective approaches to care
- Assisting client in understanding hospital protocols in an effort to optimize inpatient care
- Assisting client to find other medical providers or institutions as needed for second opinions or other care
- Assisting client in finding caregivers or skilled nursing facilities
- Assisting client with respect to end-of-life care
- Providing emotional support to client and/or life coaching
- Answering client’s general health questions
- Assisting client in locating sources of alternative medical therapies, as desired and requested by client
- Assisting client with medical claims and billing issues from insurance companies, hospitals, and medical providers
Can you make housecalls, care facility/hospital visits, or go with me to my appointments?
Yes, we can, if you so desire. Anywhere in the Greater Houston Area, we can follow you at home, work, doctor’s office, care facility, or hospital.
Do you provide services for clients outside the Greater Houston Area?
Yes, to an extent. Remote advocacy and health coaching services are provided by phone or video conferencing to clients anywhere in Texas. Medical billing advocacy and the Algorithm of SixTM weight loss program can be done nationwide. In-person services, however, are limited to clients in the Greater Houston and surrounding areas.
Do you provide transportation for clients to or from clinic/hospital visits?
No. We are not a transportation service, but if you need this, we can help you find a company that provides it.
Do you provide medical services like a doctor would?
Not directly through HPA, but Dr. Rajan has a separate clinic called Concierge Integrative Medicine of Houston (www.conciergeintegrativemedicine.com) that provides both traditional and holistic medical services, so you can contact Dr. Rajan for details at 281-888-2406 or [email protected]). By acting as a patient advocate / health coach through HPA, we serve as health educators and mediators working with you and your medical team to get the best possible health care and health care outcomes.
Services NOT provided by Houston Patient Advocacy include:
- Prescribing or administration of medication of any kind
- Ordering lab tests or diagnostic studies of any kind
- Written referrals to a particular physician or other specialist
- Diagnosis of any illness or health condition, whether physical or mental
- Rendering a medical opinion with respect to any symptoms of client
- Providing emergency care or telemedicine services of any kind
- Physical, mental, or other examinations of any kind
- Providing medical treatment with respect to any of the client’s health conditions or concerns
- Caregiver services or physical assistance with activities of daily living
- Serving as medical power-of-attorney or decision maker
- Manipulation of medical equipment
- Medical transportation
Do you make medical decisions for the patient?
No. Acting as patient advocates, our role is to educate the patient with the best medical information available so that he/she can make the best medical decisions for him/herself, in consultation with medical 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.
Would my medical team or hospital object to my hiring a private patient advocate or bringing one to appointments or hospitalizations?
No. In our experience, the vast majority of doctors and all hospitals we have interacted with are perfectly fine with a patient bringing along a professional advocate since we provide written authorization from the patient that allows an HPA advocate to be present and interact with the patient’s medical providers. Furthermore, we 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, and they know that.
Do you accept insurance? Could I be reimbursed by insurance in any way?
Houston Patient Advocacy does not accept any insurance as payment for services. Health insurance does not provide coverage for private patient advocacy, private health coaching, phone consultations, or medical billing advocacy services. Long-term care insurance may be able to reimburse you for private patient advocacy services, but you would have to check with your carrier to be sure.
Can I pay for services from my HSA/FSA account?
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.
What is the cost for services?
HPA offers an initial 30 min free consultation (in-office or by phone) to go over your health concerns any questions you may have. The consultation may be done either in-office or by phone.
Afterwards, cost for further time is based on a standard hourly rate or a Concierge Membership.
Concierge Membership costs $6000/year or $500/month with a 1-year minimum commitment. Members get access to physician-level patient advocacy and health coaching from Dr. Vik Rajan for up to 1 hour a month or 12 hours a year in a 12 month term, which may be utilized by up to 2 people. Consultation time over 12 hours within a 12 month term is billed hourly at a discounted hourly rate of $500/hour. Membership auto-renews annually unless cancelled in writing.
Memberships are limited to 200 total, so call for availability if interested.
Standard hourly rate without membership is $1000/hour on a pay-as-you-go basis for any physician-led patient advocacy or health coaching.
Medical billing/insurance advocacy services are billed at $500/hour.
Patient advocacy or health coaching from a nurse advocate or senior care manager is billed at $400/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 Texas) include consultations via phone or video conferencing but exclude in-person services. There is an initial 1-hour minimum to sign up.
Is it cost-effective to spend money hiring a medically-trained patient advocate / health coach?
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 advocate / health coaches 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.
Do you have a corporate plan for patient advocacy/health coaching?
What type of payment do you accept?
By what methods do you communicate?
Where are you located?
What are your office hours?
Do you accept walk-ins?
