19 While these questions do not address every aspect of patient-centered care, they can help you evaluate how well your healthcare providers are doing on key issues. Are there areas where they can improve? Take this list with you and discuss it with your healthcare providers. Advocating for your providers to improve their patient-centered care not only benefits you, but all the individuals they treat. What more can you do to advocate for patient-centered care in your community? • Make others in your community aware of the need for patient-centered care. Discuss it with family and friends, or at your support group. • Speak up when policies from health systems or insurers put cost ahead of what is best for you. Don’t just accept inferior care without a fight. • Contact your local hospital and health systems and ask what their policy is on patient-centered care, and whether they have a patient advisory group with which you could participate. • If you are not receiving care that makes you feel safe, confident, and respected, take your business elsewhere. You have the right to fire your healthcare providers. The Case for Comprehensive MS Care In the comprehensive care approach, professionals from several different fields work together to provide the most complete care possible. This may include neurologists who specialize in MS, certified MS nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, neuropsychologists, mental health counselors, urologists, social workers, and other professionals. While this is often accomplished by referral to various specialists that have experienceworkingwith peoplewho have MS, ideallythese services are available in a comprehensive MS center. MS is a complex disease, and often it may take more than one healthcare professional to treat a particular problem. For example, cognitive problems may need to be addressed by a neurologist, neuropsychologist, and occupational therapist. In the traditional model of care, one of these professionals would treat the patient, perhaps referring them to the next only when they reached the limits of their ability to provide care. In a comprehensive care model, the professionals coordinate care, each doing their part to contribute to the overall treatment plan. To learn whether there is an MS center near you, go to mscare.org and search the MS centers directory.