Adv-and-Care-Coord

Advocacy and Care Coordination

CIC members help people with chronic illness to navigate the health care industry and identify resources available in the community. Caregivers and recipients ask about support groups; insurance coverage; medical specialists that perform home visits; durable medical equipment; or available social, legal, or financial services. Many recipients of care have multiple chronic illnesses.

CIC Members function as advocates for patients and families that are struggling financially to pay bills; need access to Meals on Wheels; need ramps for home accessibility; or simply need a single pediatric-sized crutch.

CIC Members are committed to solving problems for people suffering from various chronic illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis, Post-Polio Syndrome, Heart Failure/Heart disease, Diabetes, or Huntington's Disease. CIC believes in improving the quality of life for those persons affected by chronic illness, aging and disability, and actively responds to questions, concerns, or calls for help.

CIC Members share their professional contacts, their experience and expertise in treating and serving the chronically ill, and assist in researching the best way to meet the needs of those with chronic illness.

Examples of Advocacy and Care Coordination

A resident of a local senior facility was unable to communicate with anyone, other than in writing, because his Electro Larynx aid needed repair. This gentleman's voice box had been removed due to throat cancer. The CIC was contacted by his Social Worker to find out if there is a local company that could repair his broken model or if the CIC could assist financially in purchasing a new one. A CIC Member began the process of researching and contacting local resources which led to a throat cancer support group in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where the facilitator of the group repairs Electro Larynx speech aids. After verifying legitimacy and ethics of the companies involved, especially with respect to HIPAA rules, instructions were followed to ship the broken item to Kalamazoo for repair while a loaner was sent out. Then contact was made with a company in Texas where a brand new Servox Electro Larynx was ordered to replace the broken one. The repaired Electro Larynx is now used as a backup to the new one, and the loaner was shipped back to Kalamzoo with many, many thanks. There was no cost to the patient.

Another example is when a CIC Member was asked to find a Medicare certified home health care agency with excellent experience in tracheotomy tube and ventilator care for a frail woman with CHF and COPD. The call to CIC came from a family caregiver who was confused and filled with questions and concerns about finding the right agency to provide the necessary medical care for her mother at home while she recovered. The caregiver wanted a house call physician to come to the home as well. The mother was being discharged from a skilled nursing facility in Ohio to her home in Michigan. The CIC Member contacted another CIC Member and learned about several agencies that work with vent patients. After a few phone calls, an agency was found that would take the patient and a house call doctor was identified. The family was very relieved to know that the agency and physician serving their mother is qualified and competent.

These are just two examples of what the CIC accomplished by working together with the right information and resources.