February is National Wise Health Care Consumer Month.
The goal is to help consumers receive the right care at the right time in the right place. This involves teaching consumers how to become more active in their own health care and helping consumers understand how to interact effectively with the health care system to receive proper care. Pella Regional Health Center encourages patients to sign up and use the patient portal, My Pella Health. They also use patient advocates as a resource to assist with health care decisions.
Another way Pella Regional is helping patients understand the entirety of their health care decisions, including their financial health, is through patient advocates. The rules of insurance are always changing and are frequently challenging for patients to understand. Patient advocates help patients be informed and understand the financial impact of services at the hospital.
Patients who are scheduled for surgery may be asked to meet with a patient advocate who will help them review their insurance. Many medical imaging procedures are also reviewed by the patient advocates. Beyond surgery and medical imaging, any and all patients who have financial questions or concerns about an upcoming medical service can consult with the patient advocates.
Many people aren’t aware of details of their insurance, but patient advocates can help patients estimate their cost for a procedure before receiving the service. Patient advocates provide an estimate only and are predicting what will happen during a procedure so pricing may change, but it’s a good gauge of how much patients should plan for the financial impact.
If you have questions about funding for an upcoming service at Pella Regional Health Center, contact a patient advocate at 641-628-6706/641-628-6713 or by e-mail at advocate@pellahealth.org.