I don’t know about you, but the term facilitator has really bothered me since I first heard it a year ago. When someone says they’ve used a facilitator it brings to mind images of someone moving inventory from one place to another or that capsule you stick your bank deposits in at the drive-through. “Here you go. We’re going to wrap you in your medical records and stick you in this tube and send you on your way.” Now that’s easy. It’s really difficult for me to think of humans seeking healthcare as inventory or a jettisoned capsule.
Facilitator comes from the latin root “facilis” meaning easy. But world health travelers don’t want just easy. Certainly, having surgery isn’t going to be easy for you. Going to Costa Rica for dentistry or Korea for a discectomy, I would want someone to be my voice in the fine details. Notice the root of “advocate.” It’s “vocare” meaning to call to ones aid, which is derived from a more basic root “vox,” or “voc” meaning voice. An advocate will make all the arrangements for the trip and the procedure as well as be your principle agent when dealing with the insurance company, and search for the best doctor for your particular health need. An advocate would be there to answer your questions, and help my medical travel companion find something to do other than sit in the waiting room and worry.
Advocates ensure that there is “continuity of care.” This is probably the most important part of going beyond borders for treatment. Contact between your surgeons and your home doctor is essential from initial decision through to any physical therapy and recovery. An advocate will not just hand your records off, but be a conduit through which information between doctors and hospitals can communicate. An advocate will give 100%, where as a facilitator may not be so inclined to give you that extra special treatment and service you deserve.
I really prefer the term Medical Travel Advocate. Who would you rather have on your side, a facilitator or an advocate? So far the only company I’ve found that uses Medical Travel Advocates is Patients Without Borders. The distinction is small, but the difference is huge.
