Sarah Lawrence College was the first in the country to offer a master's degree in health advocacy, according to GetEducated.com, which also states that the salary range for individuals with master's degree in health advocacy is between $55,000 and $60,000 a year. The University of Toledo offers an online graduate certificate program in patient advocacy, whereas students can complete four courses for a total of 12 semester hours.
The University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health offers a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Behavior and Health Education, and the University of Florida offers a doctoral degree for students who complete its Public Health Program. Doctoral degrees are usually available in health or environmental studies. Patient advocates with doctoral degrees make a salary between $70,000 and $75,000 per year.
A patient advocate is responsible for ensuring that patients and their families are aware of managed care program regulations, health care maintenance organizations (HMOs), and insurance or medicare issues. Other areas of concern for patient advocates include protecting the rights of the mentally ill, geriatric patients and long-term care patients. Patient advocates are found in work settings such as hospitals, doctors offices, rehab offices and insurance companies, both in public and private sectors.
Based on salary reporting from the U.S. Bureau of Labor, patient advocate workers averaged approximately $14.78 per hour in 2004. This salary is lower than jobs in the private industry, which is due to the high number of part-time and entry-level jobs in the field of patient advocacy.