American Health Information Community: Members

Nancy Davenport-Ennis
Chief Executive Officer, President
National Patient Advocate Foundation and Patient Advocate Foundation

Nancy Davenport-Ennis is a cancer survivor and the Founding Executive Director of the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF), a policy organization that seeks to improve access to care through regulatory and policy initiatives at the state and federal levels. Additionally, she established Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) in 1996 as a direct patient services non-profit organization. PAF provides case managers and attorneys to resolve access, pre-authorization, coding and billing errors and assistance with expedited approvals to private and public health care programs.

Davenport-Ennis serves as a Commissioner on the American Health Information Community (AHIC) with Health and Human Services (HHS). She is also on the PRR Advisory Board for Oncology Times, In-Touch, Coping and Managed Care and Cancer magazines. She represents NPAF on the Access to Quality Cancer Care Team, a committee of C-Change, as well as a member of the One Voice Against Cancer. Mrs. Davenport-Ennis serves on the Directors Consumer Liaison Group with the National Cancer Institute. Davenport-Ennis was also selected to the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee at CMS. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Friends of Cancer Research as well as the Advisory Board for the Intercultural Cancer Council. Davenport-Ennis sits on the external Board of Review for the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, MO. She has served as a Congressional witness before the Senate and House committees addressing access issues confronting patients. PAF is a collaborator with the CDC to serve underserved, at risk populations. Davenport-Ennis sits on the Mayor’s Committee on Medicaid and Physician recruitment in Newport News, Va.

Ms. Davenport-Ennis initiated the development of the Global Access Project Coalition (GAP), a collaborative organization comprised of 61 national organizations representing the non-profit patient community, oncology provider stakeholders as well as industry representatives for the purpose of commissioning national research studies to reflect the status of oncology health care delivery. To date six national studies have been commissioned with baseline studies completed in 2004 and measurement studies to be completed in 2005.

Davenport-Ennis recently introduced a national patient assistance program providing financial assistance to insured patients who cannot meet escalating co-payment requirements. Patient Advocate Foundation has been awarded a favorable ruling by the Office of the Inspector General of the United States to provide this service to Americans and provides this service to patients seeking enrollment the CMS Drug Replacement Demonstration Project.

Patient Advocate Foundation patient services have been featured and/or Patient Advocate Foundation representatives’ comments have been included in articles addressing access issues confronting patients reflecting the value of case management and/or legal interventions. Articles that Patient Advocate Foundation has appeared in is follows: June 2000, article in Family Circle Magazine; December 2000 articles, Parade Magazine and Readers Digest; October 2001, Lifetime Network, Speaking of Women’s Health, Chai Lifeline: Family Heartbeats; November 2001, Investing in America, Getting Health Claims Covered shown on CBS affiliated stations; December 2001, Citizen of the Year Nomination in the Daily Press, article in The Boston Globe; January 2002, American Cancer Society’s Man to Man Prostate Support Group, “Second Opinion,” a fully funded pilot airing on WXXI Public Broadcasting in Rochester, NY; February 2002, Self Magazine, Vital Options International radio program; March 2002, Daily Press newspaper article, “Patient Advocates, NN-based foundation eases health care trauma”, article in Prevention Magazine, article in The Oyster Pointer; April 2002, articles in The Wall Street Journal, Hematology Oncology News and Issues, The Virginian Pilot, Glamour Magazine, Physicians Practice Magazine, BusinessWeek Magazine, Coping with Cancer and Coping Magazine, and American Family Physician Monograph on Cancer, and the New York Times. PAF was included in the June 2004, Family Circle Magazine, the April 2004 issue of The Boston Globe newspaper, the June 2004 issue of Chicago Parent magazine. PAF was also featured on August 9, 2004 on the NBC nightly news. PAF has been quoted in the Inside CMS publication several times in the months of August, September and October 2004 surrounding the issue of the CMS Drug Replacement Demo. The PAF Patient Assistance Program was quoted in the September 10, 2004 issue of the Wall Street Journal.

Ms. Davenport-Ennis is the recipient of the 1989 Outstanding Young Woman of America Award, the Association of Community Cancer Centers Advocate of the Year Award and the U.S. Oncology Medal of Honor Award. Ms. Davenport-Ennis was also appointed to the Governor’s Commission on the Uninsured in Virginia. Davenport-Ennis was also named as a Paul Harris Fellow by the National Rotary Foundation. Davenport-Ennis holds a B.A. degree in English from Campbell University.