On Monday, November 26, six MMAP counsellors will be on site at Flat Rock Towers to help members change their Medicare coverage. See the attached flyer, titled Enrollment for more information. This flyer was provided by MMAP.
About Renee
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Advance Directives: What Would You Do?
This week Hospice of Michigan visited Flat Rock Towers and did a presentation on advance directives. The presenter brought the 5 Wishes book with him and explained how to complete the forms inside. All of the residents who attended the presentation now want a copy of this book, which will be mailed to me. I am to distribute the books to the individuals who requested them when they arrive in the mail.
Then there was the discussion we had during yesterday’s phone conference on advance directives…
My thought, to rememdy any potential future misunderstandings for residents, is to attach a note stating that members should consult an attorney when signing any type of legal medical documents. Also on the note, I would include phone numbers for Elder Law of Michigan and Elder Law Center in Redford.
As a service coordinator, how would you handle this situation? Would you do things differently? Please comment and let me know your thoughts.
Solving the transportation puzzle
Finding non-emergency medical transportation for clients is like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. Certain elements need to come together just right – or your client may be out of luck. Providing the right resources can be especially tough if you don’t know how to navigate the system. Elements to consider while researching options include: The exact location of the destination, date, time, and duration of the appointment, and whether the client will be under anesthesia during the visit. All of these factors will determine the resource given to a client. Other questions to consider may not be as obvious. In a recent e-mail correspondence, Sara Mary Wallace, mobility specialist at Area Agency on Aging 1-B provided the following tips:
I know how frustrating finding transportation can be. The goal of the program I work for, myride2, is to be a one-call, one-click mobility management service dedicated to helping seniors and adults with disabilities remain mobile for life. Our website and call center are designed for users to easily connect to transportation resources and information. Even though it is literally our job to find folks transportation, it can be challenging at times. Here are some tips that might help:
1.) If someone lives in Oakland or Macomb Counties, they can call us! myride2 Mobility Specialists are available from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, to help individuals find which types of transportation options would work best for them. People can call us toll-free at 1-855-myride2 (697-4332). They can also visit our website at www.myride2.com and search for providers who serve their zip code.
2.) If you are needing non-emergency, medical transportation keep in mind that these companies need to be licensed properly by the State of Michigan. They are required to have a Certificate as an Authorized Limousine Carrier. (Yes, a “limo license.”) If you follow this link: http://mdotwas1.mdot.state.mi.us/public/licensedcarriers/carriers.cfm?type=L, it will take you to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) website. It shows you all of the providers that currently have the certificate. You can choose a report by County (so it will pull up all current carriers in whatever county you want), or you can look at the entire list for the State of Michigan (which alphabetizes them by the city they are located in, so it’s fairly easy to see what’s available in a certain city).
a. Keep in mind that this list has actual limo companies on it as well, but you can often tell by the name which are limo companies and which are non-emergency medical transportation carriers.
3.) If a person has Medicaid, one of the benefits of full Medicaid is transportation to and from medical appointments. If a person lives in Oakland, Wayne or Macomb counties they can call the transportation provider LogistiCare at 1-866-569-1902. They will need to provide their active Medicaid ID number, but should then be able to get transportation to any medical appointments they have, anywhere in the State. If someone lives in another county, they would need to call their DHS office and as to speak to the Transportation Coordinator.
4.) Look for resources or non-profit groups that focus on a particular group of people. If your client is a Veteran, see if the local Veterans office has any volunteers. If someone is getting cancer treatments, contact the American Cancer Society. If you are trying to help a person with a visual impairment, see if the local LIONS club might help. Also many senior centers provide some type of transportation within the city they serve.
5.) Don’t rule out home help agencies. These agencies generally charge approximately $20/hour and require a minimum number of hours. However, if you client has an insured vehicle, the home help worker can often drive the client’s car, and there is no mileage fee. If a minimum is 3 hours, the trip would cost about $60.00 and you have a person staying with your client the whole time. Often transportation provider’s roundtrip fees are more expensive, and they client is picked-up and dropped off.
Sara Mary Wallace can be reached directly at 248-262-1289 or at swallace@aaa1b.com
Hospice of Michigan at Flat Rock Towers
Presenters from Hospice of Michigan are scheduled at Flat Rock Towers at noon on Wednesday, September 5. The topic of this two-part presentation includes “Hospice 101” which introduces the philosophy of hospice, and “Have You Had The Talk” which focuses on Advance Directives. The contact person at Hospice of Michigan is Oren Jackson (313) 578-6336, ojackson@hom.org.
Hannan Directory
We can never have enough directories! Please see the attached files. This file includes maps, addresses, and work hours of Hannan PVM and CSI Service Coordinators. Naturally, not everyone’s hours are listed, but I will update as I get more information. Also, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan has shared a complete contact list for their service coordinators, which also includes days and hours worked.
Uploading Files to SCoop
There are certain file types that WordPress will not allow you to upload. For example Microsoft Publisher will not upload to this blog. If you find that you cannot upload a document, simply convert the document to a PDF file. It’s usually good to save documents as PDF anyway, since Acrobat is pretty universal.
Transportation Coordination Service
Ride Connect is a transportation coordination service that serves Washtenaw, Wayne, Jackson, Livingston, Oakland, and Monroe Counties.
For more information, call 1-866-977-9423 or visit:
http://rideconnect.info/home/about_us
Monitor your monitoring
As soon as you end a visit with a member, the clock starts ticking.
As service coordinators, we are obligated to see our “frail” and “at risk” members every 30 days. Those who are not “frail” or “at risk” must be seen every three months. This means that if we see a frail member on August 13, our next appointment should be scheduled before September 13.
In fact, Hazel Park Service Coordinator Alexa Lempert recommends using the following link to keep precisely up-to-date on client visits:
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html
The easiest way that I’ve found to keep track of client monitoring is by creating a simple spreadsheet. My spreadsheet consists of several different tabs that include various different lists.
You can create a tab in an Excel file by going to the very bottom of the spreadsheet. There, you can right click and voila! Rename the sheet to suit your needs.
To keep track of visits and contact with my “frail” and “at risk” clients then, I run a simple list in Excel. On the left side of the list are names, on the right side — you guessed it — the date when I had last seen him or her.
To some, Excel can be rather intimidating. However, in this instance, the program makes it pretty easy to track clients. In Excel, you can highlight names as well as add and delete entire rows. This can be particularly helpful as members become deactivated or when new members move in.
Additionally, you can run several different lists using Excel. My lists include: Enrolled Members, Active Members with Non-Participation Forms, Active Members who are Frail and At Risk, Active Members who are not Frail and At Risk.
At the very bottom of this post, you will find the word “Example” in blue. This is a link to a sample spreadsheet. If you are not familiar with Excel, please feel free to open the link (or open Excel on your hard drive) and play around with it a bit. It is quite a simple program, once you get used it.
By keeping these running lists, I know who’s who at all times — and so far, it’s worked for me!
Do you have any tracking tips?
Please share, and thanks!
August 9 Meeting Recap
Aug
ust 9 Meeting Recap
Logic Models
Wendy provided each of the service coordinators with a booklet on how to complete logic models. Additional copies of the booklet can be found on the shared drive under file name:
S:\Program Staff\Service Coordination\Reporting, Program Evaluation & Logic Models\HUD Semi Annual Reporting How-to.docx
The logic model is a two-part document.
Each Service Coordinator has a logic model specific to his or her site; this model includes only resident data.
Additionally, each coordinator has a standard “outcomes” logic model. Consider this the “essay” part of the report. Data for this logic model includes both co-op and community residents.
Notes for completing logic models include:
- Field #1: Policy priority-Capacity Building and Information Sharing, Participation in, or creation of face-to-face networking meetings with other HUD Service Coordinators and local government aging and/or disability: Count each time you’ve met with other service coordinators or other service provider.
- Field #2: Policy priority-Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing-Number of new strategies implemented to address service needs and increase local capacity [Strategies]: The “strategy here is defined as service coordination in your building. The answer to this field is 1.
- Field #9: Case Management- Reduction in move-outs to higher level of care [Residents]: Ask members “Would you have moved out if you hadn’t received this service I helped you with?”
Future Conference Calls
The conference call scheduled for August 16 will focus on storing confidential files on the shared drive, along with cleaning confidential files out of your hard drive.
To improve the impact of weekly conference calls, SCs will be writing the agenda. Agendas should be submitted to Rachel for approval prior to the meeting.
Upcoming Agenda writers:
August 23: Diane
August 30: Renee
Other points of note
Think safety: Arrange your office so that you have quick access to the door in case a client becomes physically aggressive. Incidences of sexual advances made by clients should be reported to Rachel.
Best practice tip: Try to include emergency contacts on consent to release forms.
Due dates: Check requests are due every other Thursday. Rachel has added these days to her Zimbra Calendar to help SCs keep track.
New Eyes for the Needy and other vision resources
New Eyes for the Needy vouchers can be used in only two places in Michigan: Saginaw and Royal Oak:
William Beaumon Hospital Eye Institute
3601 West 13 Mile Road, Royal Oak 48073
Tel: 248 551 2020
They also suggest these national programs:
Vision USA – www.aoa.org
Coordinated by the American Optometric Association, Vision USA provides
free eye care to uninsured, low-income workers and their families.
They have a network of centers and may have one in your local area.
Applications are online only – they do not have a telephone number.
EyeCare America – www.eyecareamerica.org
Tel: 877 887 6327
Facilitates eye care for US citizens or legal residents aged 65 or older
who are without an Eye MD and do not belong to an HMO or do not have
eyecare coverage through the Veterans Administration.
Sight for Students — 888-290-4964
A Vision Service Plan program in partnership with The Entertainment Industry
Foundation, providing eye exams and glasses to children 18 years and
younger whose families cannot afford vision care.
They also recommend we search on-line for free clinics or local University hospitals that may offer vision centers. The Commission for The Blind and Visually Impaired in your state may also have resources for you. In addition your library, local municipal building, social worker or local optical shop may also know of free or low-cost exam resources.