What does it mean and what does it take to be a patient’s advocate? It takes the commitment and concern of Ray Davis, lead pharmacy tech at Illini Health Services pharmacy in Pittsfield. Ray’s actions on behalf of patients earned him the ICARE Award for Compassion at a surprise ceremony on Thursday, June 4.
The nomination submitted on Ray’s behalf spoke glowingly of his quick and accurate service and how he goes the extra mile to secure the medication a patient needs as affordably as possible.
“He will look up copay cards for patients and, if he needs to contact insurance about a rejected claim, he will stay on the phone for as long as he needs to and speak to as many people as it takes to get an answer as to what needs to be done.”
Sometimes, with the stress of illness, the phone calls in which Ray is involved can be less-than-friendly. Recently, a patient provided new insurance information over the phone to Ray, which the insurance company rejected. The patient was upset, said he would be switching pharmacies, and hung up the phone. Ray was not deterred. He investigated the situation and discovered the rejection of the patient’s claim occurred because the insurance company incorrectly entered the patient’s information into their computer system. The company fixed the error and approved the claim. Ray called the patient back.
“The patient ended up being thankful, apologized for having a bad day and taking it out on Ray and picked up his prescription. Ray was able to provide the patient a needed medication and retained a now very happy customer, when the easiest thing to do would have been to just let the patient transfer to a different pharmacy.”
Blessing Health System salutes Ray Davis for his positive attitude, purposeful perseverance and for being a role model for patient advocacy.