What Is a Patient Advocate?

Written by: Wilson College • Sep 11, 2026

A smiling patient advocate meets with a patient.

Access to quality healthcare is a major concern for Americans. According to a 2025 survey on the state of healthcare across the 50 states conducted by Gallup and the nonprofit West Health, about 47% of Americans fear they will not be able to afford care in the next year, while out of those that can afford it, only 59% feel as if their providers meet their needs.

In this environment, patient advocates are more vital than ever. But what is a patient advocate, and what does it take to become one? Learning the answers to those questions and what the salary is for the role is the first step for individuals looking to take on this service-focused position.

What Does a Patient Advocate Do?

Patient advocates support patients and their families and caregivers, helping them manage various aspects of the healthcare process, from speaking with specialists to scheduling medical procedures. Their primary responsibilities include educating, communicating, and scheduling.

Educate Patients

Patient advocates have a wealth of knowledge about the healthcare industry, making them an invaluable resource for translating medical jargon into language that patients can understand. A patient advocate helps all parties involved build a greater understanding of a diagnosis and what the next steps entail. The greater understanding a patient has of their situation, the more informed their decisions can be.

Verify Insurance Coverage

Though a patient may be familiar with their insurance policy, a patient advocate will verify their coverage before appointments. This assistance ensures the patient can make the most informed and financially sound decisions about their treatment plan.

Communicate With Other Health Professionals

Patient advocates highlight their patients’ needs to specialists involved in their treatment. A patient advocate’s healthcare background puts them in a position to be able to effectively communicate information about a patient’s ailments and health history to a specialist within a care team on behalf of the patient.

Help Manage Schedules

From appointments to prescription refills, the scheduling involved in a medical regimen can quickly become overwhelming to some patients. Patient advocates relieve patients and their caregivers of this stress by stepping in and helping them coordinate the patient’s various schedules.

Where Do Patient Advocates Work?

Patient advocates work in a range of work environments. Here are a few typical work environments for patient advocates:

Healthcare Facilities: Hospitals and treatment centers hire patient advocates to expand their patients’ support system within the facility.
Nonprofit Organizations: People who have a strong connection to community-based services work as patient advocates in nonprofit organizations.
Independent Practices: After establishing experience within the field, some patient advocates start their own consulting practice. Consulting can involve providing specialized services to individuals or advising healthcare providers.

Key Skills for Patient Advocates

Patient advocates must have a unique set of interpersonal, administrative, and healthcare skills to be able to serve their clients. For that reason, employers often require applicants to have a bachelor’s degree in a healthcare-related field or a high school diploma and some healthcare experience. No matter their level of education, though, patient advocates need the following skills.

Medical Understanding

Patient advocates review patient charts, prescription details, and other medical-specific documents, so it’s crucial that they have excellent healthcare literacy. Gaining knowledge of medical humanities provides aspiring patient advocates with the medical and social understanding they need to be able to clearly relay healthcare information to patients and confidently support them in many aspects of their healthcare treatment.

Communication and Collaboration Skills

The ability to foster collaboration among multiple parties is key to what a patient advocate is. On any given day, a patient advocate might need to clear up a denial from an insurance company, reach out to a new specialist, or teach a patient’s family member about the patient’s daily care requirements. Patient advocates work to keep every member of a patient’s healthcare team on the same page, ensuring the patient gets the care they need when they need it.

Emotional Intelligence

Guiding someone through a medical diagnosis and other aspects of the healthcare process can be an emotionally charged experience. Every patient is unique, and patient advocates need to be attuned to their clients’ emotions, so they understand how best to support them. Individuals with a high degree of emotional intelligence are better equipped to help patients and find patient advocacy to be a fulfilling career.

Financial Fluency

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2026, 36% of American adults surveyed said they had delayed getting healthcare services or not gotten them at all in the past year due to costs. Patient advocates play an instrumental role in helping people overcome financial obstacles, which makes knowledge of healthcare costs, insurance, and financial relief programs patients may qualify for an important competency in this profession.

Assessment Skills

Patient advocates must be able to assess their clients’ full range of needs and determine what resources they may require to meet their healthcare goals. Medical data can be important in this process, but patient advocates may also need to assess a patient’s socioeconomic status, living situation, and other traits to be able to help them find and receive appropriate, cost-effective healthcare services.

Documentation Skills

To keep their clients’ healthcare plans on track, patient advocates must fully document the services they provide to clients in addition to the services they receive from other professionals. Being able to keep this information organized is key to getting patients the care they need.

Legal Knowledge

America’s healthcare professionals, including patient advocates, are bound by an intricate system of laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Patient advocates must fully understand these laws and also be knowledgeable of guardianships, powers of attorney, and other regulations that influence who can make decisions regarding a patient’s health and well-being.

Professional and Ethical Knowledge

Patient advocates must know how to approach patients and their families with respect and keep principles such as bodily autonomy, patient privacy, and informed consent at the forefront of their interactions with them. But while patient advocates must act ethically themselves, holding other providers accountable and reporting infractions when necessary is an important part of patient advocacy as well. This is especially important when they are serving patients who cannot advocate for themselves.

Patient Advocate Salary and Job Outlook

The patient advocate’s role in improving the healthcare process for both patients and care teams is invaluable. As such, the number of jobs for patient advocates is expected to continue to grow. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects employment of health education specialists, which includes patient advocates, will grow by 4% between 2024 and 2034, which is faster than the average 3% growth rate expected for all occupations.

Per the BLS, the median salary for health education specialists in the U.S. is $63,000 as of May 2024. Health education specialists, including patient advocates, had the following median salaries based on their place of employment:

Hospitals: $82,870
Government facilities: $68,390
Ambulatory healthcare services: $62,700
Social assistance: $49,370

With the continued high demand for professionals across healthcare occupations and work environments, patient advocacy seems likely to remain a considerably stable profession.

Learn More About Becoming a Patient Advocate With a Bachelor’s Degree From Wilson College Online

Patient advocates help ensure patients receive the best care available to them. Patient advocates support the patients they work with, empowering them to make informed decisions about their healthcare. The Bachelor of Arts in Healthcare and Medical Humanities program at Wilson College Online offers students the knowledge and experience they need to pursue a fulfilling and impactful career in patient advocacy.

Learn more about how Wilson College Online can help you build the foundation for a gratifying career.

Recommended Readings

What Is Medical Humanities?

Occupational Therapy Assistant: Salary and Job Description

How to Become an Addiction Counselor

Sources:

AAGL NewsScope, “Patient and Physician Advocacy: Do You Hear Me? Can We Talk?”

Gallop, “How Do Americans Experience Healthcare in Their State?”

Indeed, “What Does a Patient Advocate Do? (Duties and Salary)”

Kaiser Family Foundation, “Americans’ Challenges With Health Care Costs”

Patient Advocate Certification Board, Patient and Health Care Advocacy Framework With Domains of Competency Within Contextual Variables

Priority Physicians, “What a Patient Advocate Is (and Why You Need One)”