Life Here

September 9, 2016 By Jane Walker

Healthcare Advocates Provide Security and Support for PVE Residents

As we age, our healthcare needs become increasingly demanding. Confusing Medicare rules and coverage and communicating with your physician can be intimidating and time consuming for you and your family. But what if you had your own personal team of healthcare advocates with many years of experience who were there to help you navigate the best course for your healthcare and consult with your physician peer-to-peer?

What if support for you, your spouse and family could be seamless, because that team of advocates knew you before any healthcare situation– even if the unexpected occurred?

At Paradise Valley Estates, as with most life plan communities, our health advocacy team includes Registered Nurses, Licensed Vocational Nurses and Licensed Social Workers. Most people don’t understand how important their services are until they face a medical situation. With family members spread all over the world, getting information and connecting with doctors and nurses can be very frustrating, if not impossible. Our resident care team is able to step in, communicate and plan efficiently.

Once a quarter, we hold an event called Transition Tuesday. Originally designed to discuss how any transition might be handled when moving between levels of care (whether short or long-term), it has grown into something more. Our panel of experts explains how one transitions through different levels of care, but it’s the free-wheeling Q&A that is truly amazing. Ask any question about health insurance, hospitalization, home care, Medicare Parts A and B, therapeutic services, or supplemental insurance and this team can answer it!

Here are some typical questions from Paradise Valley Estate’s most recent Transition Tuesday:

  • What hospital do you go to if you don’t have an established primary care physician or your physician is out of the immediate area?
  • Who pays for ambulance rides?
  • Who advocates for us if we have no family?
  • If we are discharged from a hospital emergency room, what happens next? Where do we go?
  • Who can help us decipher our long-term care insurance benefits?
  • Will my regular physician follow me if I am a resident in skilled nursing care?

Our experts, with over 80 cumulative years of experience, have no problem answering any of these involved questions. Plus, the answer is often that our healthcare team can assist you in each of these scenarios.

When searching for the right retirement living situation, please consider who your healthcare advocates will be. If you are considering a life plan community like PVE, make sure to ask about the experience and qualifications of the resident healthcare team. Find out how they interact with residents and individual healthcare providers. Next, be sure to pass that information along to your family and especially to the person designated to act on your behalf in medical situations.

For many of our residents, the reassurance of having trained healthcare professionals acting on their behalf is very comforting. The security and support provided for healthcare is often at the top of the list of reasons they chose this as their retirement living destination.

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