STREETERVILLE — Some hospital patients call Jessica Schwarz “the daughter they wish they had.”
When family members or patients need extra help understanding and directing their treatment, Schwarz, founder and CEO of the newly launched VIP Health Navigator, helps her clients find their way in the complicated health care system. It's the first patient advocacy service to care for patients in the Streeterville area, according to Schwarz.
True to its name, the health care startup offers services to help patients navigate complicated hospital systems ranging from translating clients’ symptoms and expediting treatment to informing employers and family members of clients’ medical circumstances and waiting bedside with patients.
“Some of the family members try to advocate for [patients], but some people don’t have that,” Schwarz said. “And even when they do have loved ones, they don’t know the system.”
Patient advocacy remains a niche in the health care field. The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates estimates the number of privately paid professional advocates is around 350 or more in the U.S., but the alliance predicts the profession will grow 100 to 200 percent per year over the next decade as citizens increasingly demand their services.
Andrea Karoff, coordinator of Psychosocial Oncology at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Lakeview, said the need for patient advocacy stems in part from the complexity of the health care system before and after the Affordable Care Act, adding that she thinks the need for advocates may decrease as the healthcare industry becomes more efficient.
Karoff works with patient advocates who refer cancer patients to her for additional help. Their needs include help understanding matters like medical bills and health insurance coverage, she said.
“It’s important for all of us to recognize that we need to be our own best advocate and ask questions,” Karoff said. “If we’re not totally comfortable asking questions, then we need to ask ‘Who’s available to help me?’”
Schwarz first recognized how important it was to have knowledgeable supporters during a medical emergency she had in 2005. Her father and mother, a doctor and former researcher, respectively, helped her figure out what course of action to take, enabling her to make a full recovery.
She also has experience volunteering at various medical agencies including Northwestern Memorial Hospital, The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, prior to receiving her patient advocate certification at the Professional Patient Advocate Institute and starting the company.
“I feel that it’s part of who I am and what I can do in this world to make it a better place,” Schwarz said.
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