Acronyms that contain the term patient advocacy 

Patient advocacy

Patient advocacy is an area of lay specialization in health care concerned with patient education about the use of health plans and how to obtain needed care. Patient advocates include government consumer advocacy agencies, which provide services to the public at large, and private sector for-profit and non-profit service providers, which offer services to individual patients. In the United States, most states have established within their government structures an office of patient advocacy or similar function. More broadly, patient advocacy can include groups that develop policies and legislation to improve systems or processes for patients, such as the Alzheimer's Association, the British Diabetic Association, and the American Cancer Society. Such patient advocacy organizations are characteristically non-profit and focus on one aspect of health care or a specific disease, generally also conducting fundraising and awareness campaigns and producing healthcare literature and information services. These organizations normally do not engage in the provision of clinical support or the conduct of liaison between patient and provider. The patient advocate may be an individual or an organization. The terms patient advocate and patient advocacy can refer both to individual advocates providing services that organizations also provide, and to organizations whose functions extend to individual patients. There are also governmental agencies that study and ensure compliance with government regulations including financial aid. Some patient advocates work for the institutions that are directly responsible for the patient’s care.

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