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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 can help during a crisis.
During the current situation with COVID-19, people who are on Medicare and their families have been calling Kepro with various issues such as prescription refill concerns, discharge questions, and concerns about communication with health care providers (e.g., hospitals, skilled nursing facilities).
A Medicare patient’s husband called Kepro with concerns about his wife who was in the hospital. Since he spoke Spanish, an interpreter was involved. He told Kepro that before his wife was in the hospital, they had a friend over who tested positive for COVID-19. His wife then became sick. She had a fever, diarrhea, and didn’t feel like eating. She was taken to the emergency room where she was tested, intubated, and admitted to the intensive care unit.
The patient’s husband was very upset over what was happening to his wife. He was having a hard time getting information from the hospital staff about his wife. He called Kepro to ask if we could help him to get regular updates on her condition.
Kepro’s social worker talked with the Chief Nursing Officer from the hospital about the patient and how the husband was not able to get any updates about his wife’s condition from hospital staff. The hospital said that staff do attempt to contact family one or two times each shift. However, the hospital staff are spending most of their time taking care of patients during this crisis. She stated that she would take the husband’s concerns to the Director of Nursing and would have someone contact him regarding a resolution.
The husband did get a call from the hospital saying that they had put a plan in place to make sure that he will get a daily update about his wife’s condition.
“Thank you for your help, Kepro. You were able to get the information I couldn’t get. I feel so much better knowing what’s happening with my wife.”
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.
