HAMPTON, Va., April 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) is pleased to announce its newest educational initiative, the Patient Empowerment Series, designed to arm patients and caregivers with comprehensive educational information and strategies to build skills when advocating in their own healthcare situations. Launching on May 15th, the Series will feature practical advice on the most frequently reported access barriers and/or educational concerns gained from PAF's years of delivering case management services to those Americans facing life threatening, chronic or debilitating diseases.
The Patient Empowerment Series will be comprised of four components: live and on-demand monthly webinar sessions, interactive, customizable web-based resource tools, comprehensive PAF resource library and weekly social media posts providing timely updates on current activities and/or healthcare issues. Timed to coincide with the launch of PAF's newest publication – the Coverage Access Guide – the first webinar session will focus on giving patients a guided tour of PAF's current suite of mobile phone applications, interactive healthcare solutions and extensive online tools. PAF expert case managers will personally host each webinar, ensuring the delivery of actionable steps to every viewer and linking the topics to publications that are available in the PAF resource library. Each session will provide a powerful skill set empowering the patient to avoid the most common barriers in care.
The first live webinar in the series will be held on May 21, 2015 at 12:00 PM EST and again at 3:00 PM EST. Subsequent monthly sessions will equip viewers with robust knowledge on topics, such as:
- reducing financial costs associated with illness and preventing medical debt,
- the Health Insurance Marketplace, helping patients understand a new way to obtain their health coverage,
- successfully managing the appeals process and overcoming insurance denials,
- and accessing available federal and state disability benefits.
As a longtime respected leader in comprehensive, patient-focused case management services, PAF has always sought to inform patients during the one-on-one interaction that takes place during the life of a case, investing time to provide education and extra clarification on a particular issue one patient at a time."Our mission is to ensure that patients have critical knowledge that prepares them for challenges they may face throughout the treatment, recovery and rehabilitation process. Not only do we want to find positive resolutions to their current obstacle, but we want to ensure the patient is armed with information to tackle any future issues they may face," says Dr. Alan Balch, CEO of Patient Advocate Foundation. "Information not only empowers patients by providing an avenue for resolution, but can also reduce the fear and anxiety that comes from being overwhelmed and not knowing exactly where to start."
"Offering the Patient Empowerment Series to the public is a natural extension of our well defined core competencies and we feel that providing engaging webinar events alongside our highly respected educational material will make it easy for patients and caregivers to obtain the critical information they need," said Beth Moore, Executive Vice President of Program Strategy at PAF. "Ever since PAF's first patient-focused guide was published, the Managed Care Answer Guide nearly two decades ago, patients, caregivers and providers have consistently praised our ability to connect patients with timely and actionable content."
Registration is now open for the first two webinar sessions with additional series information available at www.patientadvocate.org/webinars. Live sessions will occur on the third Thursday of each month with content available on-demand for 24/7 access the following day.
About Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF)
Established in 1996, Patient Advocate Foundation assists patients who have been diagnosed with chronic, life-threatening or debilitating diseases overcome healthcare access barriers. PAF provides in-depth assistance through personalized case management, financial support, and connection to critical community resources, all at no cost to the patient or their caregiver. Patient Advocate Foundation serves patients from all 50 states, and has physical locations at many of the top patient referral states including Texas, Florida, California and Virginia.
For more information about Patient Advocate Foundation and our mission to improve health access to all patients, visit www.patientadvocate.org or call 1 (800) 532-5274.