Toldeo Health Insurance

Healthcare Advocacy

For many individuals seeking medical assistance, the complexity of the healthcare system is stressful and frustrating. However, there is an exciting new concept in healthcare management. When the founders of PinnacleCare conceived a new idea for a company dedicated to the health of individual families, their intuition and research indicated the timing was perfect. Everyone had a story of frustration, confusion, communications snafus and, often, medical disasters in personal encounters with the medical system. Meanwhile, healthcare leaders were entrenched in the discussion of cost-containment. Fortunately for PinnacleCare and its Members, one leader was championing a different path. John Hutchins, founder of international VIP programs at Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins and now managing director of PinnacleCare, was obstinately preaching quality and patient choice.

PinnacleCare, a private healthcare management company for families and executives, is dedicated to connecting individuals to the finest, most advance healthcare in the world and managing all their interactions with the healthcare system. PinnacleCare is not an insurance company, a managed care plan, or a provider of medical services. PinnacleCare seeks to restore the medical decision-making between the doctor and the patient.

"PinnacleCare is not rendering medical care. The physicians still render the medical care. What they're doing is offering an advisory service to help you decide who you should see for that care depending on what your issue is and then expediting it in a number of ways," explains Dr. Dave Hutcheon, Gastroenterologist, Johns Hopkins University.

As stated by a recent New York Times article, "44 percent of patients seek more information after receiving a diagnosis." But that quest for more information can result in a feeling of being hopelessly overwhelmed by healthcare choices or lack there of.

In response to these ever growing problems PinnacleCare created a diverse and experienced team of PinnacleCare AdvocatesTM. The Advocates all have experience in navigating the healthcare system from the inside and work together as a team. Many PinnacleCare Advocates are nurses, social workers and others who have worked at VIP/International departments at major Centers of Excellences. PinnacleCare Advocate teams are assigned to best match Member's geographic area, medical needs and personality and preferences. All together, it is an effective formula for personalized, quality healthcare.

As Richard Rossi, a long-time PinnacleCare Member states, "My Pinnacle advocate is part of my 360-degree circle of support. I will not tolerate medical mistakes and bureaucracy. And because of PinnacleCare, I don't have to ' recently I saw a physician because of a medical concern. PinnacleCare had provided for me a complete medical history, going back to my childhood. And I presented that to this physician who told me that he'd never seen anything like this in his life and could provide me with a level of support and solutions to my problem that would have been unthinkable otherwise because of how he understood me and my medical needs. To me, that's priceless."

Today, medical knowledge changes too fast for most primary doctors to even keep up with advances in specialty areas. However, PinnacleCare's renowned Medical Advisory Board continues to expand in these areas, including new proven wellness practices. Some 50 physicians now voluntarily serve on the prestigious board, ranging across the nation and representing the finest medical institutions in the world. Numbers only reveal a portion of the success of the Medical Advisory Board. PinnacleCare Advocates report a median 24-hour response rate to their queries from these world-renowned specialists and researchers.

PinnacleCare is unique in its goal to help shed light for healthcare consumers even outside of its Membership circle. Those efforts resulted in a detailed white paper explaining the various aspects of Medicare and its impact on personal health choices. Additionally, on July 12, 2005, PinnacleCare issued the first in a series of consumer guides. The "Guide to Getting the Best Healthcare" is a 40-page "how to" on self-advocacy for better medical outcomes. It is available to the general public.

Three years after its conception, PinnacleCare is hearing new stories from the world of healthcare: stories of clarity, prevented illnesses, effective paths to recovery, caring, compassion and, more often than anyone could have imagined; miracles. Those stories are voiced by PinnacleCare Members, who give credence to their gratitude in two remarkable statistics. Approximately ninety-five percent of Members renew each year, and forty percent of the company's new Members come from existing Member referrals.

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About the author: To learn more about PinnacleCare services, its PinnacleCare Advocates and read more Member testimonials, please visit; www.PinnacleCare.com