Managing finances is an important piece of your care plan. Keeping Mom in her home for as long as possible is the foundation of her care plan. You see, the good news is mom is in relatively good health for for her age, the flip side? She will most likely outlive her money. Figuring out finances meant looking for ways to ensure enough monthly income to pay for upkeep on a … [Read more...]
Getting Access to Medical Records
What challenges might you enounter, given HIPAA regulations? [Part 2 of 2] Part 1 of this blog described when you might want to get copies of your, or your parent’s, health records. It also discussed the critical federal law, HIPAA, and how the resulting privacy rule assures that patients have appropriate access. Part 2 gives you the practical details about getting … [Read more...]
HIPAA Rights Go Beyond Talking To Your Parent’s Doctors
As your parent's advocate, with HIPAA you have the right to obtain records. [Part 1 of 2] Managing your own health care, much less a parent’s care, can quickly become complicated as health problems arise. When we’re young and healthy, an annual physical checkup, a few screening tests, a dental cleaning, and an eye exam are easy to manage over a year. But as I recently … [Read more...]
You Use Special Medical Equipment – Are You Prepared for An Emergency?
If you are on oxygen therapy, have you notified your power company? Often when the power goes out due to a storm it’s a minor inconvenience. For most of us, all we need is a few candles to see and board game or a book to pass the time. But when you’re caring for aging parents, a power outage can have serious consequences, especially if the situation escalates past a few … [Read more...]
What Is Your Caregiver Contract?
And I don’t mean the contract you sign with an agency. I believe that each relationship is built on a contract: Spouses, Significant Others, Parent/Child, even Friends. Informal and often unspoken, each contract defines interactions and expectations for the relationship. At the most basic level it defines what you are willing or not willing to do for one another. Imagine … [Read more...]