About Haven Healthcare Advocates
Patient & Care Services
What do Haven Healthcare Advocates do?
Haven Healthcare Advocates are here to guide you or your loved one through the healthcare system, including but not limited to: screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.
We help you communicate with providers so you get the information you need, in a manner you can understand, to make the most informed decisions.
Haven Healthcare Advocates help patients set up appointments for doctor visits and medical tests and get financial, legal, and social support. We also work with insurance companies, employers, lawyers, and others who may influence a person’s healthcare needs.
Meet Our Founder
Kristy founded Haven Healthcare Advocates to bring compassionate, knowledgeable guidance to individuals and families trying to navigate the healthcare system. She has over 25 years of medical, health, and wellness experience.
As a nurse, caretaker and at times patient herself, Kristy understands how difficult it can be to manage one’s healthcare. The time it takes and the worry it induces can be overwhelming.
Kristy began her career in business as a financial advisor but after starting a family and having three amazing children she made a career leap into healthcare. Her nursing career blossomed in the NICU where she strongly advocated for her tiny patients and provided calming reassurance, support, and education to their oftentimes terrified parents. Kristy has also spent time on a critical care transport team and after a move to Florida, worked for an insurance company where she focused on disease management and employee wellness.
“As a nurse, caretaker, and at times patient herself, Kristy understands how difficult it can be to manage one’s healthcare. The time it takes and the worry it induces can be overwhelming.”
Prior to starting Haven Healthcare Advocates, Kristy was an advocate for her own family and friends.
She was living a thousand miles away from her father when he had several surgeries related to his diabetes. Kristy remembers being amazed when, on one particular hospitalization, every person who walked in the room had his health history and medications wrong. Kristy understands the importance of coordinating care and managing health as a whole and not simply treating individual conditions. With her family and her father’s move to Tampa, she was charged with the arduous task of finding new providers in a brand new city. Even with a medical background, this proved to be a time-consuming and daunting experience. In fact, for a short period of time, the dogs were the only ones in the house with healthcare providers!
Kristy’s experience, coupled with her doctorate level studies in nursing leadership and public health have afforded her a deeper understanding of our healthcare system. Her sole focus at Haven Healthcare Advocates is going beyond the work of healthcare providers and insurance companies and ensuring that your goals are achieved.
There is value in being able to step back from the caregiver role and be able to enjoy time with family.
Meet Our RN-Led Care Management and Patient Advocacy Team
-
Kristy Shell, RN, BCPA
-
Nikki Bowen, RN
-
Vicki Gatling, RN
-
Jenni Nolan, BCPA
-
Maja Beau, RN
haven, noun:,
a safe or peaceful place
Our goal at Haven Healthcare Advocates is for clients to feel a sense of comfort and enjoy the peace of mind they get, knowing that they or their loved ones are being cared for. Our hope is that they view their advocate as their “safe haven.”
Our Full Suite of Care Management Services
-
All-Inclusive Elder Care Management
Our most comprehensive service, care management is ideal for aging adults and the families supporting them. We coordinate every aspect of medical care — from appointments to medication tracking to facility communication — and keep families updated in real time via a secure health app.
-
Patient & Hostpital Advocacy
When you or a loved one is feeling lost in the healthcare system, we step in. Our registered nurse advocates help clients of any age understand diagnoses, attend hospital visits (in person or virtually), and make informed decisions. We serve as your voice and partner in care.
-
Medical Billing & Insurance Advocacy - Available Nationwide
Confusing bills, denied claims, and insurance headaches don’t have to be your burden. Our team helps patients understand their insurance coverage, challenge denied procedures, reduce surprise bills, and get access to necessary care.