Kudos to Personal Health Guide, Nurse Navigator, & Extensivist Physician
I have been a patient of ARC’s (Austin Regional Clinic) Advanced Care Coordination Clinic for only a few months and have had nothing but good experiences with it. I spent about an hour with the head of Internal Medicine, Dr. Daghestani and several of his team members going over my various health conditions, medications, specialists and treatment programs. Dr. Daghestani made several recommendations that streamlined my prescription medications and OTC drugs after explaining the pros, cons and purpose of each. He told me of numerous services that could be provided by ARC during already scheduled lab or medical appointments with the results sent to my various specialists if necessary. All of these actions have saved me time and money without compromising in any way the quality of the care I receive. As a matter of fact, I have even easier access to Dr. D or someone on his team than I did to any previous PCP or their nurse. I’ve been provided a direct line and even a pager number for what I would call the “triage” nurse who can take care of my situation or get me to the person who can.
Last but not least is my Personal Health Guide. She calls me after I have met with medical staff to see if I understood everything and to see if I have any questions. She wants to know if it was a good experience and what could make it even better. She also checks in with me every week or two just to see how things are going. Each time she’s done this, I find I have something that I’ve been worrying with but haven’t figured how to begin to do something about. On at least two occasions she has taken over the next steps which have usually involved making sure the right referrals are in place and lets me know what is required of me. She won’t do what I am capable of doing for myself but helps me figure out what needs to happen, checks out the medical requirements, and points me in the right direction. If I get into trouble or run into a roadblock, she’s there to run interference. Sometimes it just takes someone who can translate between a patient and medical or insurance professional! This is what my Personal Health Guide does so well for me (and I can’t help but think the medical and insurance professionals appreciate her, too).
If you are offered an opportunity to participate in ARC’s Advanced Care Coordination Program, I would strongly encourage you to take advantage of it. You get a Personal Health Guide and a team of medical professionals whose goal it is to make sure you get coordinated, efficient, cost-effective care, the right medications in the right amounts, and access to the system when you need it. – A Very Grateful Patient
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