Advocates who will assist patients through diagnosis and treatment of disease -- whether that means helping them coordinate with the medical professionals, working with them to make treatment choices, or even helping them find the right doctors to help them -- may need a background in health and medicine, as a doctor, nurse or other medical profession.
Advocates who wish to provide medical, home health or eldercare forms of assistance will need to be people-oriented and have plenty of patience.
Those who wish to work with the elderly or with very young children will need the patience and appreciation of those age groups.
Those who prefer the insurance and billing aspects of advocacy will need to understand how payer reimbursements work, plus co-pays, co-insurances and deductibles. An understanding of government payment systems such as Medicare and Medicaid, plus basic math skills are also important.
To be an entrepreneur patient advocate, and start your own patient advocacy business, you'll need to understand business basics.
All types of advocacy require excellent communication skills, the ability to be empathetic (but not so empathetic as to lose focus), organization skills, good time management, the ability to do research to solve problems, a creative side to help solve difficult problems, and the ability to get along with a variety of people including patients, their families and professionals.
In addition, the best patient advocates need to be politely assertive, and able to both provide respect and command respect from the many others involved in a patient's care.
