|
Immediate Advocacy We are the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization, working to improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries. Our site offers beneficiary and family-centered care information for providers, patients, and families. Welcome! |
related links
- How to File a Quality of Care Complaint
- How to File an Appeal
- Appoint a Representative
- Additional Resources
- En Español
speak with kepro about immediate advocacy
Click on the button below to find the phone number for your state.
what is immediate advocacy?
Through the Immediate Advocacy process, Kepro serves as an advocate for those people who have Medicare to access needed health care.
Read a story about how Immediate Advocacy helped a Medicare patient who had concerns about a home health agency.
This story is also available as a video:
Helping a Medicare Patient Work Through Issues With a Home Health Agency.
Felix is a Medicare patient.
Before he left the hospital to go home, staff made arrangements for home health visits to provide nursing services for wound care. Once at home, he had questions. He was concerned about when his nursing visits would start. He couldn’t call the home health agency because he was not given the name of the agency before he left the hospital.
He called Kepro for help. Kepro called the hospital and spoke with the staff who planned the home health services. They gave Kepro the name and telephone number for the home health agency. Kepro then called Felix to give him the information, so he could call and ask when his visits would start.
Kepro also told him to call back if other problems came up that he needed help with.
After a couple weeks of nursing visits, Felix noticed during a visit that the nurse had different supplies. He didn’t think much about it. But after the nurse left, he noticed that the bandage didn’t feel like it usually did. It didn’t feel right; it felt tighter.
He talked with his son about it. His son said that if he had questions, he should call the home health agency, which he did. He didn’t really get any answers, so he called Kepro again for help.
Kepro spoke with the home health agency, who said that they have had problems getting the regular supplies because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sometimes they are able to get the regular supplies and sometimes not. They have had to get other types of supplies when the regular supplies weren’t available. The home health agency noted that the different supplies should not cause the patient any harm or interfere with his wound care. Kepro called Felix to explain.
He understood and felt better that he was able to get answers to his concerns.
If you are on Medicare and are not happy with the care you received or if you need help working through an issue that needs to be taken care of right away, please call Kepro and ask about Immediate Advocacy.
Read more about Immediate Advocacy.
Read about how BFCC-QIOs Respond to COVID-19 with Information and Support for People Who Have Medicare.
