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Legally Reviewed by:

Jonathan Rosenfeld
J.D

March 2, 2023

Over $400 Million worth of case results

Awarded The Best Lawyer in 2024 by U.S. News

Nationally Recognized in Legal Community

As a victim of an accident, you are likely worried about many things. You may be concerned about how you will pay your bills, get back to work, and heal.

Victims who suffer serious injuries may need help for the rest of their lives and require extensive support. A life care planner can help victims and their families figure out what support they will need and how to find the resources necessary to survive.

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Were you injured in a catastrophic accident caused by someone else’s negligence? The personal injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC can ensure you receive maximum compensation as outlined by life care planners to have sufficient monetary funds to protect your future.

Contact our accident injury lawyers at (888) 424-5757 or use the contact form to schedule a free consultation.

Why Life Care Planning Is Crucial to Survival

People with life-threatening or chronic illnesses often have a team of health care providers working with them. This team may include the person’s primary care provider, specialists, nurses, social workers, and others.

The goal of life care planning is to make sure that all health care providers are working together to meet the person’s needs and that everyone involved understands the person’s goals for treatment.

A life care plan is a written plan that describes the care that a person with a chronic or life-threatening illness needs. The plan includes information about the person’s current health, treatments, and services. It also provides information about the person’s goals for treatment and any possible changes in their condition.

What Is a Life Care Plan?

A life care plan is a comprehensive document that outlines all of an individual’s future medical and long-term care needs. The plan considers the person’s current health status and projected needs. It is designed to guide both the individual and their caregivers.

Life care planning can be essential for individuals with chronic or debilitating health conditions. It can help them receive the care they need and ensure that their needs are met over their lifetime.

For caregivers, life care planning can provide peace of mind knowing they have a roadmap to follow as they care for their loved ones.

Creating a life care plan requires input from various professionals, including doctors, nurses, therapists, and financial planners. The process of life care planning can be costly and time-consuming, but its benefits for people with chronic health care needs are immense.

If you consider creating a life care plan, talk to your doctor or life care planners to get started. Life care planners are certified professionals who make a life care plan for an individual who may have experienced a catastrophic injury based on their medical records, diagnostic testing, and associated treatment costs.

Life care planners are instrumental to the life care planning process. That’s why it’s important to work with a certified life care planner.

What Is Included in a Life Care Plan?

A life care plan is a dynamic document created as per the published standards and data analysis that itemizes and tallies accurately predicted long-term care costs for an individual with a catastrophic injury or chronic condition.

It requires input from various health care providers, rehabilitation professionals, previous data analysis, and published standards of practice.

This dynamic document based on a comprehensive evaluation of the injured person’s current condition and needs comprise the associated cost of recovery or treatment and a crisis intervention strategy. For instance, if someone suffers a traumatic brain injury, they need a concise plan for recovery.

Here are some things that must be present in a concise plan for the patient’s care:

  • Projected evaluations
  • Projected therapeutic modalities
  • Wheelchair needs
  • Wheelchair accessories
  • Medication
  • Diagnostic testing
  • Educational assessments
  • Supply needs
  • Projected surgical treatment
  • Orthotic or prosthetic requirements
  • Transportation needs
  • Home furnishings
  • Architectural renovations
  • Recreational equipment
  • Catastrophic case management strategy (especially for a spinal cord injury or brain trauma)
  • Facility-based care needs or home care
  • Projected future care
  • Orthopedic equipment needs

Besides listing all the required items, life care plans must also be realistic and achievable. The assumption is that the person will receive all the necessary care, services, and products to maintain their health and improve their quality of life. That’s why it’s important to have rehabilitation professionals on board when creating life care plans.

These rehabilitation professionals consult relevant research literature and medical research to determine the recovery trajectory for patients. As a result, they create a dynamic document based on their strong medical foundation and research.

Life care plans are not just lists of needs. Instead, they are road maps for providing long-term care for someone with a serious injury or chronic condition.

Tailor a Life Care Plan

A life care plan must be tailored to the individual and their unique needs. For instance, it must consider where the patient resides and how their geographic region may create potential complications.

In such cases, the life care plans must have solutions for these potential complications. Since many professionals contribute to such a plan, it’s very important to ensure a consistent methodology for patient care as per the published standards and a comprehensive review of the patient’s needs.

However, some commonalities must be present in every life care plan. These include:

  • A comprehensive evaluation of the individual’s current condition and future needs
  • A cost analysis of all recommended treatments, services, and products
  • A realistic and achievable plan for how to provide long-term care

What Is the Role of a Life Care Planner?

Life care planners are healthcare professionals who help individuals and families navigate the complex world of long-term care planning. They work with patients, their families, and healthcare providers to develop a plan that meets the unique needs of each individual.

A lifecare planning professional can help you figure out what kind of long-term care you need and how to pay for it. They can also help you navigate the complex world of health insurance and government benefits.

These professionals help you determine a patient’s future needs with associated costs in most cases.

What Are the 5 Main Components of a Care Plan?

Life care planning is creating a document that outlines an individual’s future medical and long-term medical care needs.

The plan is based on a comprehensive assessment of the person’s current health status, functional abilities, and projected healthcare needs. Here are the main components of a life care plan:

  • A detailed description of the individual’s current health status and history
  • Identification of the individual’s current and future healthcare needs, such as a disability
  • An analysis of the individual’s functional abilities and projected needs for long-term care services
  • Recommendations for meeting the individual’s healthcare needs, including a plan for coordination of services
  • A plan for monitoring the individual’s health status and response to care over time

It’s important to know these future needs with associated costs since they help provide optimal care for people who experienced an injury or have chronic illnesses. By considering all these components, a life care plan can be used by individuals, physicians, families, and caregivers to make informed decisions about an individual’s future medical and long-term care needs.

Life Care Planning Methodology

The life care planning methodology is divided into five stages. Here’s what these steps focus on:

Stage 1: Assessment

In the first step, the life care planner assesses the individual’s condition using their medical records and determines their current and future needs. It usually involves interviewing the individual, their family, and physicians, such as rehabilitation counselors and case managers.

Stage 2: Diagnosis

After an assessment, the life care planner makes a diagnosis. This step includes identifying the individual’s injuries, illnesses, and disabilities. The rehabilitation counselors will also try to find out how these conditions will affect the individual in the future.

Stage 3: Outcome and Planning

The next step is to develop a treatment plan. The plan outlines the medical and non-medical care the individual will need. It includes information on how the care will be provided, who will give it, and how much it will cost. Physicians can use this information to provide care to the patient since the information is based on data analysis and research.

Stage 4: Implementation

Once the plan is developed, the professionals, such as case managers and physicians, help implement it. It may involve coordinating with different agencies and service providers.

It may also involve providing training to the individual’s family and caregivers, such as in case of a disability. In this case, the plan will help the patient’s family learn how they can deal with their loved one’s disability.

Stage 5: Monitoring and Evaluation

After the plan is put into action, the professional monitors the individual’s progress and makes sure they’re getting the care they need. They may also make adjustments to the plan as needed.

Who Is Qualified to Be a Life Care Planner?

A life care planner is a medical professional who provides guidance and support to individuals who experienced an injury or have chronic diseases. The life care planner assesses the individual’s current needs and develops a comprehensive plan that will meet those needs throughout the individual’s lifetime.

To be qualified as a life care planner, an individual must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a health field and experience working with individuals with chronic or catastrophic injuries. They also need to pursue board certification.

The life care planner must be certified by the International Commission on Health Care Certification (ICHCC).

The planner plays a vital role in ensuring that individuals with chronic or catastrophic injuries receive care and support. They can take different certifications, such as the Certified Life Care Planner certification from ICHCC.

Certification

The coursework for the certification by the international academy covers various topics, including medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and rehabilitation.

In addition, the international academy coursework covers how to assess an individual’s needs and develop a comprehensive plan to meet those needs.

After completing the coursework, life care planners must pass an exam by the said international association to be certified. The exam covers the material covered in the coursework and other aspects of life care planning. Life care planners certified by the international association, ICHCC, can use the “CLCP” designation after their name.

You must meet the educational requirements to sit for this exam. The basic educational requirements are 120 hours of lifecare planning training. Most professionals choose to sit the exam for the Certified Life Care Planner by ICHCC.

But you can also choose to sit the Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP) or Certified Nurse Life Care Planner (CNLCP) exam.

A plan based upon published standards is curated by rehabilitation professionals, a certified life care planner, or other medical professionals with a health care certification.

While it’s true that life care planning helps people with chronic healthcare needs, it’s also important to remember that life care planning is a legal tool. Here are a few tips:

  • Work with an attorney who specializes in life care planning. This will ensure that your plan is created correctly and that all the legalities are managed.
  • Get your life care plan in writing. Doing this is essential to make sure that your plan is legally binding.
  • Make sure your life care plan is reviewed and updated regularly.

Life care planning is also imperative during estate planning as it can help you make sure that your loved ones are taken care of if something happens to you.

Keep these things in mind and work with an attorney to create a legally binding life care plan. Doing so will give you peace of mind.

Life Care Planning for Future Medical Care and Other Needs

To sum up, a life care plan is a document based upon published data analysis and research. Since it is based upon published standards, it is necessary for someone who has experienced catastrophic injury or has a chronic condition.

The plan meets your chronic health care needs and ensures your current and future needs are met in the best possible way. The life care planning process includes a comprehensive assessment of an individual’s medical records and an analysis of the associated costs of regular treatments and equipment required for the individual’s comfort.

All in all, a life care plan is a crucial tool for people with chronic medical conditions. If you or someone you know could benefit from such a plan, be sure to seek out the help of a professional with health care certification.

Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer to Resolve a Compensation Case

Are you the victim of a catastrophic event that left you severely injured? At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, our medical malpractice attorneys help all our personal injury clients with life-changing injuries obtain an expert life care planner to rest assured that they and their loved ones will not go without anything they need.

Our attorneys will obtain medical records and test results to build the case. We work with medical experts to file your possible medical malpractice lawsuit. You may need a special needs trust for the lifetime of care paid for by a malpractice settlement or jury verdict.

If you or someone you love has been injured because of someone else’s negligence, contact us to arrange a free consultation to learn more about your legal options and the services to help you on your path to physical and financial recovery.

Client Reviews

Jonathan Rosenfeld was professionally objective, timely, and knowledgeable. Also, his advice was extremely effective regarding my case. In addition, Jonathan was understanding and patient pertaining to any of my questions or concerns. I was very happy with the end result and I highly recommend Jonathan Rosenfeld.

- Michonne Proulx

Extremely impressed with this law firm. They took control of a bad motorcycle crash that left my uncle seriously injured. Without any guarantee of a financial recovery, they went out and hired accident investigators and engineers to help prove how the accident happened. I am grateful that they worked on a contingency fee basis as there was no way we could have paid for these services on our own.

- Ethan Armstrong

Jonathan helped my family heal and get compensation after our child was suffered a life threatening injury at daycare. He was sympathetic and in constant contact with us letting us know all he knew every step of the way. We were so blessed to find Jonathan!

- Giulia

This lawyer really helped me get compensation for my motorcycle accident case. I know there is no way that I could have gotten anywhere near the amount that Mr. Rosenfeld was able to get to settle my case. Thank you.

- Daniel Kaim

Jonathan did a great job helping my family navigate through a lengthy lawsuit involving my grandmother's death in a nursing home. Through every step of the case, Jonathan kept my family informed of the progression of the case. Although our case eventually settled at a mediation, I really was impressed at how well prepared Jonathan was to take the case to trial.

- Lisa
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