PURITY PATIENT ADVOCATES, LLC
HOW DO YOU PREVENT A MISDIAGNOSIS?
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Each year in the U.S., over 12 million adults who seek outpatient medical care receive a misdiagnosis, according to a recent study by BMJ Quality and Safety. That translates to about 5 percent of adults, or 1 out of 20 adult patients!
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In a Mayo Clinic study consisting of 286 patients, researchers found that only 12 percent were correctly diagnosed by their primary care physicians. More than 20 percent had been misdiagnosed, while 66 percent required some changes to their initial diagnosis.
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Navigating our dysfunctional healthcare system and obtaining a correct diagnosis when you have a mysterious or complex illness can be exhausting and time consuming.
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If you are a performance driven person, planner or an athlete, you want your quality of life back YESTERDAY and will do anything to regain your health.
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As a Concierge Health Advocate, I am the driving force for my clients who want an expert who they can trust before, during and after their practitioner appointments.​​
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My clients are extremely frustrated when they first come to me and I empathize with their situation. Their emotional well-being is extremely important to me.
I prepare for all client/physician appointments as if it were a business meeting. There is always a game plan and goals that will be accomplished based on your customized plan of action. ​
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I understand first hand that every person is unique with regards to their health, as well as their specific wants and needs.
By effectively collaborating with your chosen healthcare team, you don't waste years trying to obtain a correct diagnosis and treatment plan.
Regaining your health when battling a complex illness is like training for an Olympic event. It is a journey where commitment and hard work are essential. The gold medal is your quality of life!
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​Blessings,
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Sylvia Reisman
Founder & Chief Patient Advocate
PURITY PATIENT ADVOCATES LLC
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Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and Patient Advocate Sylvia Reisman issue a Proclamation for Lyme Disease Awareness Month
From Athlete to Advocate
Our Founder's Story
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My love of playing sports dates back to when my brother taught me how to throw a baseball in our backyard in Savannah, Georgia. I collected Topps baseball cards as a teenager and dreamed of being a baseball player!
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I played softball for several years as an outfielder and my high school team won the state championship. I played a variety of sports and well into my adult years, transitioned to biking, racquetball and strength training.
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I was still extremely active in 2006, when I suddenly developed bizarre and debilitating symptoms when living in Tampa Bay. This mysterious illness had me running from doctor to doctor with no concrete diagnosis. I was suffering both physically and emotionally.
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Desperate and driven to find answers, I spent five years researching and saw over 20 physicians across two states.
My biggest observation: most practitioners lacked quality time or appropriate training to assess my complex case because they specialized in one area of medicine (one organ system).
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During that time, I became acutely aware of how complex cases like mine often fall through the cracks. I learned to approach my situation like a detective, gathering pieces of the puzzle that were being overlooked, connecting the dots that no single practitioner had the time or perspective to see. ​
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This experience taught me how an undiagnosed or misdiagnosed illness-especially within our fragmented healthcare system-can dismantle your quality of life, relationships, career, and financial stability, and how quickly everything you've worked for can begin to unravel.
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I Just Wanted My Quality of Life Back!
In 2011, a physician in Tampa Bay graciously agreed to run a specialized Lyme lab test that I brought to him. Unfortunately, he misinterpreted the results and believed I was negative for Lyme disease. Refusing to accept that at face value, I took the initiative by contacting the lab company owner directly and discovered I was actually positive.
​A few months later, I flew to New York City and confirmed with a specialist in that I had Lyme disease and other infections.
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Who Was I Before I Became Mysteriously Ill?​​
I have always been a driven, ethical business professional who excelled at quickly establishing trust, cultivating lasting internal and external relationships, analyzing client problems, resolving issues and going the extra mile to deliver world class service.
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This led me to career positions in marketing and sales, including stints as an Account Manager with Reebok Southern Division, Member & Board Services Director for the Georgia Association of REALTORS and National Account Manager with Concentra Occupational Health.​​​
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After learning from the numerous mistakes that occurred during my long health journey, I could clearly see our country's broken healthcare system was not designed to properly diagnose and treat a complex patient.
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Micromanaging health insurance companies have made it extremely difficult for physicians to practice patient centered care. The end result: Patients are left to suffer unnecessarily when practitioners hesitate to take the necessary steps because insurance companies routinely deny care.
The current United States insurance model doesn't allow most hospital system "in network" practitioners to spend quality time with the patient and make decisions based on their clinical assessment.
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Instead, the model is reactive, focused on profit, deliberately denying medical claims, handing patients band-aid medications, overprescribing medication, and/or leading to unnecessary emergencies.
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This has contributed to an increased risk of death, disability and medical bankruptcy for millions of complex patients.
My journey from hell inspired me to spend thousands of hours learning from leading integrative physicians who treat complex illness.
My personal education led me to develop my proprietary Strategic Health Assessment, which I utilize with each of my complex clients. A customized game plan is developed and executed from the assessment results.
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I thus decided to start Purity Patient Advocates, a concierge patient advocacy service that replicates closely the navigation process I learned from years of personal experience.
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Just a bit more on the personal side…
I attended Armstrong State College - now Georgia Southern University and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, major in Marketing from Savannah State University.
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I enjoy cycling, hiking and for spiritual growth, developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through my ladies’ bible study group in Cumming, Georgia.
