Starting My Own Case Management Company

[kwagoner]

I am starting my own case management/care advising company after several years of working with geriatric patients as their RN. I am the person who will be placing the patient in facilities that most fit their needs and wants. I worked for so long watching patients fall through the cracks and get substandard placement because d/c planners didn't take the time (probably because they didn't have it) to listen to the patient and the family, find out the needs and preferences of the patient, and then research all of the possibilities in the area. I mostly worked in a hospital so there were certain facilities that were "easier" to place patients in and many times that is where they went not knowing any better.

I want to be the advocate for these patients, free of charge to them. I want to make sure they are taken care of and that they are given as much autonomy as possible when deciding their futures. My question is, do any of you know where I would go to get referrals for these types of patients? I don't think that walking into a hospital would work as the d/c planners probably aren't going to want to hand over patients. I already have several wonderful relationships with some beautiful facilities and I also have knowledge of resources in the area to help patients get the most money possible for living expenses. What I don't have are the patients themselves. I also considered being a case manager and handing the care for the elderly who's families are living out of the area. I could basically make sure that the patient was connected with the right providers for their needs.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. If any of my fellow nurses has some ideas of how I could get in touch with our seniors in need of care, please let me know. They deserve the best and that is what I want to give them!

Kristin

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

First of all good luck. Secondly, are you independently wealthy that you can provide these services free of charge?

You might want to make the rounds of local senior centers...speak to families, local doctors and let them know why one facility might be better than another for their family member or patient. Keep us posted on how it goes.