Thank you, Trisha.

Roseanne – that’s actually a great way to handle it. I did that for years for my dad when he lived 1200 miles away.

There are also times when recording the session is a good idea, especially when the appointment is more than just a follow up and might include new information or instructions. All our phones have recording apps on them.

While…[Read more]

The discussion on travel time led to the mention of working remotely.

I generally attend medical appoiontments with my geriatric clients. When I cannot be there in person, I usually tell my client or someone with them to ask the provider if they can call my cell and put me on speakerphone so I can participate.
Does anyone have a better way…[Read more]

Hi Linda – This would be a good question to ask the Long Term Care Ombudsman in your area. People in long term care generally have the right to select their own health care providers, so there should be more than one option for hospice care at the facility. To find the Ombudsman program that covers the area where the facility is located, you can…[Read more]

Hello Linda,
LTC facilities may have relationships with various hospice agencies. Some even have their own in house. I am wondering why the family felt the hospice services were sub standard? From my experience, there is a lot of patient and family education needed related to roles of hospice and the phases of the terminally patient.
A lot of…[Read more]

Hey Angie!
The only knowledge I have with EPIC is my personal experience. When I worked for a major health system we used Epic. I personally had access to all inpatient acute facilities within the system, it was necessary for my role as I typically floated between facilities and locations. However, the staff of each facility only had access to…[Read more]

Thanks, Trish,
Videos are a great idea. Videos also show the person had capacity when they made the video, thus eliminating an objection about whether the person knew what they were signing or saying at the time.
It’s also a good idea to have the client record their advance directive for the same reasons. They are to be used as backups in case…[Read more]

Gail! I’m falling off my chair laughing!!! I think you made a very good case for your pricing – stamped “APPROVED!” As if that’s needed! LOL

We talk all about running our practices in alignment with our authentic self – this certainly sounds like it aligns with who you are and how you run your business!

Love ya, Girl!

Althea – thanks for sharing this info from the PACBoard. It’s important to see how they delineate as I suspect this topic will need even further clarification over time.

I’ll add a few things:

I’ll also add two more tactical ideas for advocates to implement when they think they want to serve both roles, whether that is for the same client or…[Read more]

I appreciate you answering this question again and providing the links! I am a professional Medical POA and a BCPA, but I don’t perform both services for one client. I saw on a forum that someone reached out to the PAC BD about it and got this response:
“Although PACB’s Ethics committee is working on a position statement on this topic, it has not…[Read more]

Susan – you are asking all the right questions – a great start!

Patricia – please be aware: The role of professional, independent advocate means you cannot and do not ethically or contractually make decisions for a client. As a Medical Power of Attorney your role, of course, is to be the decision-maker. That’s a huge conflict. So, to Susan’s…[Read more]

You hit on the main point Jill – you need to get comfortable with billing for all of your time.

I empathize as that was one of my biggest hurdles when I launched my business. My advice would be to start where you’re comfortable & know you can always adjust later.

When I started I was giving 30 min travel time each way complimentary. I q…[Read more]