Today we’d like to introduce you to Teri Dreher, RN CCRN iRNPA.
Teri, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was a career nurse in ICU, CCU until 2011 when I started my own private professional advocacy company. I saw what was happening from the inside of the system and I did not want to work in the hospital setting anymore where the focus is more on electronic health record charting, stats, metrics and financials more than the patient. I always wanted to be a nurse and chose ICU because I wanted to give total, holistic, patient centered care the patient and their families and only have one or two patients to focus on. In the post ACA world of healthcare, nurses and doctors have to spend 1/2-2/3 of their time on the chart/computer rather than the patient and I knew that would not lead to safer patient care. A family crisis happened about that time as well when my father in law had an emergent, life threatening health crisis when our family was on a cruise ship off the coast of Belize, so I got to see what families experience from the inside and I was shocked at how many cracks people can fall through if there is not a doctor or nurse to advocate in the family. I once advocated strongly for patient in the hospital and almost lost my job. It was a light bulb moment for me and I decided to leave the hospital setting and help save lives in the community through skilled navigation/advocacy as I had for 39 years as an ICU nurse. It was the hardest, yet best career decision of my life. Patient advocacy is the purest form of nursing there is…it is enormously rewarding and we make a difference in people’s lives every day. We have now grown to the point where we are employing six nurses, two administrative staff and a full time sales/marketing director. Consumers are having difficulty with modern healthcare and hiring a nurse advocate is a great choice when people need help; more and more people are reaching out to us every week!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all. First of all, I had to learn how to be a business woman so I took a course in professional patient advocacy, spent a lot of my own money for business development and marketing and had to find a coach that could bring out the best of my leadership traits and equip me with others. Consumers still think of nurses as part of the “bed charge” in hospitals and do not yet see our value as consultants and guides. We have a private pay model company, so it has been hard learning how to avoid and collect on bad debt as well. Once the crisis has passed, a few clients have left us with large outstanding bills that are difficult to collect. Hiring and firing has been a learning experience as well. Not every nurse makes a good advocate, some do not have the expertise, confidence and personality to effectively advocate well. We are available to our clients 24/7 also so there are occasions that we are up until 3:00 AM if our clients have crises that need immediate intervention or hospitalization. We have very difficult, complex clients that most nurses would not be able to effectively advocate for. I hire nurses who are smart, humble and hungry…they need to be willing to help us spread the word through marketing and many wonderful nurses walk away when they hear “marketing”…but it is a new field and we all work together to share the word about its value.
NShore Patient Advocates – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are the largest, highest skill level professional patient advocacy company in the Chicagoland area. We have nurses in six counties around Chicago and they are Masters prepared with over 20 years clinical experience. They are nice people, super smart and street smart about healthcare and skilled at mediation, insurance and billing resolution, in hospital advocacy, senior care, vetting of skilled facilities and hospitals as well as physicians. We work well with other healthcare professionals, but also are not shy about asking the tough questions and even initiating ethics committee hearings at hospitals where our client’s rights are being violated. Hiring one of our nurses as an advocate is like “having nurse in the family”.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
My definition of success is very simple: being able to make a living at what you were created to do. I am passionate about protecting patients from slipping through the cracks in modern day healthcare. I feel personally called by my Creator to care for, support, protect, advocate and untangle messes for people who have no idea where to turn or even the right questions to ask. It is a “calling” and is greatly needed today. When I am walking in the center of God’s will for my life, it is an absolutely amazing privilege. It is the hardest and most rewarding job in the world. My personality, skills and passion are perfectly aligned for this role. Success has nothing to do with money, but because we are so driven and so excellent at what we do, the material success is unfolding very well. The money always follows when you do what you love. I have a blessed life indeed!
Pricing:
- Standard rate 200.00 per hour
- 2000/year for package that includes healthcare POA by our RNs
Contact Info:
- Address: 150 S Wacker Drive,
Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60606 - Website: www.northshorern.com
- Phone: 312-788-2640
- Email: Teri@northshorern.com
- Facebook: NShore Patient Advocates
- Yelp: NShore Patient Advocates
- Other: LinkedIn Teri Dreher
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