输液治疗费用：Option Care 患者权益导航器（Patient Benefit Navigator）可帮助患者减少担忧
By: Option Care Health
August 21, 2019
减轻患者对治疗费用的担忧
Helping ease patients’ financial stress is why Priscilla O’Quinn loves her job. As an Option Care patient benefit navigator, she is a master at unearthing resources to ensure they can afford their medication. In fact, in one five-month period alone, Priscilla secured over $1 million in copay assistance for Option Care home and Ambulatory Infusion Suite patients from manufacturer copay assistance plans and foundation related grant dollars.[*]Savings due to the financial assistance programs referenced in this article may not be available or applicable for all patients.
“我找到了一种可以某种方式、形状或形式帮助人们的方法，”Priscilla 说道，“这让我满心欢喜。”
经济援助可以发挥作用
She remembers the man with hemophilia who required life-saving IV Factor VIII protein therapy to prevent excessive bleeding. He couldn’t afford to keep his Medicare supplemental insurance and could only manage to pay a small portion of his bill each month, putting him into growing debt. Priscilla determined he qualified for a hemophilia financial assistance program and enrolled him. The program paid his bill in full and reimburses his insurance premiums.
“当我告诉他时，他说：‘你就是天使！’’’Priscilla 回忆道。
Priscilla 不断监控基金会和其他金融项目，以评估何时有可用的援助名额，并利用其他各种渠道帮助患者获得资金支持。
例如，一名参加了联邦医疗保险 (Medicare) 的患者被开出了皮下注射免疫球蛋白 (SCIG) 的处方，以治疗其自身免疫性缺陷。她准备告诉医生她负担不起治疗费用，但 Priscilla 找到了帮助她的方法。由于这名女性还患有狼疮，Priscilla 为她联系了一家基金会，该基金会几乎承担了她的静脉 IG (IVIG) 的共付费用，并且还协助她支付其他药物的费用。她很乐意从 SCIG 转为 IVIG，现在只需支付一小部分费用。
时刻寻找机遇
虽然制造商通常有经济援助计划，但如果患者拥有政府保险（如 Medicare 或 Medicaid），则无法从中受益。因此，普里西拉会联系基金会和其他支持计划，并且——对于狼疮患者来说——评估他们的其他病症是否可以获得援助。有时改变治疗方法或药物治疗就会有不同的效果。
Priscilla 体现了 Option Care 为患者提供高质量护理和支持的承诺。她经常接到一些心存感激的患者打来的电话，询问如何支付与输液治疗无关的昂贵处方的费用，她总是尽力帮忙。她说：“金钱是一个大问题，经常使病情严重的人无法坚持治疗，因此我们为所有患者找到了解决该问题的方法。”“当他们身边有人在乎他们时，这意义重大，他们真的可以从你的声音中听出来。”
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