Man and woman reviewing paperwork
Caregiver reading a document for patient

HOW MEDICAL CARE MANAGEMENT WORKS

Understanding the care manager’s process will help you to know what to expect and to choose the best care manager for your situation. Every client is unique and has very particular care management needs, especially as relates to their particular medical history and their current medical concerns. To best understand those needs, your professional nurse care manager follows a time-tested process to identify concerns, propose solutions, and take action. Here are the three steps in our medical care management process:

Assess

First, your nurse care manager will conduct a comprehensive in-person care management assessment. The interview questions will cover medical history and current health and living situation. We cover, medications, dosages, frequencies, dietary habits, daily activities, cognitive (memory and thinking skills). We evaluate our client’s ability to handle activities of daily living (ADL’s). We document finances, insurance and advance directives. Interviews are done with elders and their families. For family members that live out of town, telephone interviews are conducted. In this manner, we start with a very comprehensive baseline of our client in order to be an effective advocate for them.

Caregiver taking the heartbeat of patient
A patient talking to the doctor

Advise

Second, your nurse care manager creates a customized client Care Plan. The care plan includes the results of the assessment as well as recommendations by the elder care manager. Recommendations are provided in great detail including professional and medical resources in the community to support the needs of the elder. A client care plan will cover a broad range of issues including medical, psycho-social, personal hygiene, diet, home safety and more. The care plan will provide a recommendation for scope of care management support, which helps the family budget for services.

Advocate

Third, the nurse care manager will arrange for needed services. Nurse care managers are wonderful sources of information for community services for seniors and their families. South Florida is abundant in these services. Advocare’s Nurse Care Managers are experienced in matching community services with the needs of the elder client. A nurse care manager attending key doctor’s appointments can have an incredibly beneficial impact on coordinating and harmonizing their medical care.

For children with busy careers or living out of town while attempting to care for their elderly parents, a nurse care manager is an excellent medical advocate to support carrying out this responsibility. Communication between family members and providers improves and most importantly, the elderly parent or loved one receives the best possible care.

Doctors looking over paperwork inside of hospital

Nurse care managers continue to monitor the needs of the elder. Nurse care managers will schedule regular visits to re-assess and continuously monitor the health and well being of the client. These are needed as changes will continue to progress with both the elder and the family dynamics. As experienced medical professionals, nurse care managers can many times spot and anticipate issues and proactively avert medical crisis or hospitalization.

So, if you’re in need of Florida elder care management services, contact Advocare and our Professional Elder Care Managers. We love what we do and we will be delighted to help you. Call us today!