Having a patient advocate dedicated to the ED.

The ED at St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson, AZ, has its own departmental patient advocate. This new staff position saves a lot of time for the rest of the team members. Here are some of the functions a patient advocate can perform in your ED: proactively prevent problems and satisfy delivery of care needs in a timelier manner to avoid complaints; train the ED staff in customer service and communication techniques; communicate with outside clinics to support uninsured or underinsured patients who don't have primary care physicians.