One-to-one help getting ready for your doctors

No. Josi is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, certified by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in 2021. She is not a physician, nurse, pharmacist, dietitian, attorney, or insurance agent, and she holds no clinical license. Patient advocacy itself is not currently a licensed profession in the way medicine or nursing is, so what you can weigh is her training and the work described on this page. What she offers is organizing, preparation, and a steady second set of eyes. When a question needs clinical judgment, she says so and helps you get it to the right professional.

She cannot interpret it for you; that is your clinician's job. What she can do is help you get the complete report instead of the portal summary, show you which parts people usually ask about (the T-scores by site, whether the scan was on the same machine as last time, whether a vertebral assessment was done), and write those questions down for your appointment. The DXA quality checklist in the Advocacy Guide is the same tool she uses.

No, and please do not stop or change anything based on a coaching conversation. What she will do is help you build one complete list from every prescriber, write down what you do not understand or where two doctors told you different things, and help you ask your pharmacist for a full review of the list. If you have Medicare Part D, your plan must offer a free Medication Therapy Management review to members who qualify, usually several chronic conditions (osteoporosis is one), several Part D drugs, and drug costs above a yearly threshold; Josi can help you find out whether you qualify and ask for one. Your pharmacist and prescriber make every call.

Only if you ask her to, and in the way you agree. Most clinics have their own release form for this, and Josi will tell you what to ask for. Often the most useful thing is simpler: a one-page brief you hand over yourself, written in your words, which she helps you write. With your written permission she can send that brief to the office ahead of a visit, or follow up on a referral that has stalled. If you would like her on a call or at a visit as a second set of ears and the note-taker, that depends on you and the clinic. She never contacts anyone about you on her own, never holds your portal login, and never speaks as if she were you.

Josi does not bill insurance, and this kind of support is generally not covered; the fee is private pay. She also does not represent you with an insurer. If you have a denial letter, she can help you read it, pull together the facts your doctor's office will need, and keep track of the deadlines using the appeal toolkit in the Advocacy Guide. The appeal itself is filed by you or your doctor's office.

The ones people are rarely told about: manufacturer patient-assistance programs for expensive medications, Medicare Extra Help and Medicare Savings Programs, your free State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) counselor, Medicaid, Marketplace coverage, hospital financial-assistance policies, VA benefits for those who served, fall-prevention and strength classes, your local Area Agency on Aging, and 211 for local help with food, housing, utilities, and other services. Each program decides who qualifies, not Josi. Public programs also differ by state; she knows some well and will tell you plainly when a question is outside what she knows, rather than guess.

That is up to you. Some people want one hour to get organized before a key appointment. Some like a short session before each big visit, or a check-in afterward to sort out what was said. There is nothing to sign up for, so you decide as you go, and every session ends with a short list of what happens next.

No. Fill in what you can. The sections on what you want and what has been hard are the most important; the rest can be finished together in the session. If forms are not your thing, print it blank and write by hand, or go through it with Josi on a call. The form never leaves your device unless you print it, save it, or share it yourself.

Nowhere. The form runs in your browser and is not sent to Josi, to this website, or to anyone else. If you tick 'Save a draft on this device', it is stored in this browser only, unencrypted, and anyone using this browser could open it, so skip that on a shared or public computer. You can remove it at any time with 'Clear saved draft'. The printed or PDF copy is yours to bring to your first session.

Yes, with their knowledge and agreement. Many people come to this on behalf of someone they are caring for. The intake form asks who it is about and who is filling it in, and there is a second signature line for you on the printout. For Josi to speak with that person's clinicians, the person themselves, or whoever holds their health care power of attorney, gives the permission. Josi works for the person receiving care; if their wishes and yours differ, theirs come first.

Josi keeps working notes so she can do the job well, uses them only to help you, and shares nothing with your clinicians, insurers, or any program without your written permission, unless the law requires it. Because she is a coach and not a licensed provider, her notes are not covered by HIPAA the way your doctor's records are, which is one reason this website keeps nothing: the intake form lives in your browser, not on a server. Ask Josi how she stores what you give her and she will tell you, and you can ask her to delete her notes at any time.

Call 911 (in the U.S.) or your local emergency number. Josi cannot help in an emergency and does not provide medical care of any kind. For something time-sensitive but not an emergency, such as an appointment in a few days, say so in your consultation request.