Growth and Development

We are approaching our nine-year anniversary. We continue to help families cope and manage their lives, and to see our staff and service offerings evolve and diversify.

Special Services team
The Special Service team is one year old. Special Services offers expertise with insurance enrollments and claims, bill-paying, Public Aid and other entitlements, and is managed by Martha Kern. We have assisted many people with the confusing and complex enrollments for Medicare Part D.  The team has marshaled assets for some extremely complex cases and has successfully located lost or missing assets.  Call on the Special Services team for help with…
--Medical bill management, which encompasses review of all medical bills, follow up with insurance claims and identification of appropriate patient portions due;

--Checkbook management and/or establishment of an escrow account from which all client bills can be monitored and paid;

--Development of a customized Medicare D profile and enrollment in the plan that delivers the most medications at the lowest cost for each individual user;

--Evaluation of existing private insurance coverage and recommendations for improved coverage;

--Negotiation of medical expenses and/or hospital charges not covered by insurance;

--Submission of medical and long-term care insurance claims, including document gathering and ongoing follow up;

--Completion of lengthy Public Aid applications and coordination of the document gathering process;

--Assistance with applications for social security disability (SSDI)  and Illinois special insurance programs such as  I-CHIP and KID CARE.

LCI Expands its CEU (Continuing Education Unit) Offerings
LCI remains committed to education of the lay and professional communities on current issues concerning the disabled and frail elderly.  We hold Continuing Education Providerships for Social Workers and Nursing Home Administrators throughout the state of Illinois. The company remains committed to educational excellence and offers a wide variety of CEU opportunities. Especially popular this year is LCI’s presentations on:

• Competency and Decisional Capacity
• Guardianship the Basics
• Animal Assisted Therapy
• Mental Illness – Revitalizing the Family
• I Want It My Way (how to assure your life and health decisions are honored)

Criminal Re-Entry Services are offered by LCI
Mental illness can impair judgment and lead to arrest or imprisonment. Individuals contending with mental illness do not belong in jail, where their issues remain untreated and they receive little or no rehabilitative service. Life Care Innovations now works with these individuals to help them function in the community, remain compliant with their medication regimens, and make sound decisions. LCI presents recommendations to the court, featuring step-down plans wherein offenders are awarded increasing freedom contingent upon their compliance with the court-approved plan of care. Residential placements are made according to individual needs and situations. Many clients progress from structured institutional environments to successful placements in the community. Life Care Innovations monitors compliance and behavior throughout the step-down process.

CareNhome, Inc. Update
CareNhome, Inc. is now one year young.  The goal is to help keep the client in their home by maintaining the environment and providing assistance with day to day needs.  The company provides services that maintains and/or repairs our clients’ environments as well as non-medical companion services. 

We have our own team of “handymen” who are able to do some of the simple repairs that plague some of our clients’ environments.   Basic tasks such as grab bars, leaking faucets, installation of safety detectors (smoke and carbon monoxide) are no longer on the terminal “to do” list because they are completed.  The team has provided services from moves and clean ups to a complete renovations. 

May saw the addition of non-medical companion services for our clientele.  Our screening processes are rigorous and include background checks and drug screening.  Clients who utilize more than 20 hours of companion services a month also have a Life Care Manager on the team to provide proper oversight and guidance of the plan of care. Consistent with all our product lines the care giving is a high quality, consistent service that helps our clients maintain their dignity and quality of life.

Staff
Our staff is our greatest asset.  Our Life Care Managers are highly educated and skilled professionals.  We have added to talent to our ranks and we encourage you to check out our staff page to view individual bios.

LCI Continues Charitable Contributions to Morton Arboretum
Life Care Innovations is pleased to continue a long-term relationship with Morton Arboretum. LCI values the contribution Morton Arboretum makes to the local environment, and thus contributes financially to their efforts to maintain the Arboretum grounds and provide programs for the community.

Therapy Dog Visitation
Our four legged volunteers continue to provide service to community groups and organizations.  Our dogs have worked with autistic children for years and we see great success with the relationships that have been built over time.  Visits to nursing homes as well as our clients’ individual homes bring a ray of sunshine into peoples’ lives. Our dogs are going to begin participation in physical therapy programs for brain injured clients to improve mobility and balance.