Agent Work
Aging in Place
IKOR of Charlottesville offers numerous services to help individuals remain independent and safe while aging in the comfort of their home. From home safety assessments to coordinating home repairs and modifications, to vetting and supervising in-home care service providers, IKOR of Charlottesville is the partner you need to help age in place.
Assisting Executors with Estate Administration
Serving as the estate executor/administrator for a friend or family member is an enormous undertaking and requires considerable time, knowledge, and running around. When a non-attorney first agrees to serve as a loved one’s executor, we find that most don’t fully comprehend the work involved and can quickly become daunted by the responsibility they now face. IKOR can share the work by contacting utility companies to terminate services, delivering or retrieving documents from the County/City Clerk’s office, inventorying and securing estate assets, arranging and overseeing realtors and appraisers, drafting communications to heirs, and a host of other non-legal tasks.
Attending Doctor Appointments
Our Registered Nurse Advocates and geriatric care managers are available to attend appointments with primary care physicians and other medical professionals. Our clients can benefit by having an experienced registered nurse at their side during a doctor’s appointment to help them ask questions, understand treatment options, make sense of the doctor’s instructions, and even answer pertinent questions the doctor may have regarding their medical history or medications.
Following the doctor’s visit, your Registered Nurse Advocate can help arrange follow-up visits, coordinate referrals to specialists, and answer any questions one has following their appointment.
Benefits Review
Surveys routinely find consumers don’t understand their insurance benefits and are likely leaving money on the table, or paying for medical services their insurance should cover. IKOR of Charlottesville’s Personal Needs Coordinators are skilled at reviewing insurance policy coverage and explanation of benefits to ensure a beneficiary is receiving the benefits they are due.
Our Personal Needs Coordinators also understand government benefits. They can help guide you through the application process and the appeals process or recommend expert assistance should you have a complex case.
Care Coordination
We improve the lines of communication between primary care physicians, specialists, in-home care providers, and others who are responsible for our client’s health. By ensuring our client’s care team is on the same page, we can improve the efficiency of the delivery of their care and minimize duplicative tests, screenings, or procedures.
Our Registered Nurse Advocates and geriatric care managers can follow-up on lab results, coordinate follow-up appointments or referrals to specialists, and ensure other care providers are aware of any changes in medications or treatment plans.
Concierge Services
We know life is busy and that the day-to-day tasks that absorb our time can seem never-ending. Let IKOR take some of the burden of life’s general demands off your shoulders. Whether it’s arranging a hair appointment, dropping documents off at your attorney’s or tax preparer’s office, or shopping for the perfect outfit for your granddaughter’s wedding, our concierge services combine reliability, personalization, and ease.
Coordinating Home Repairs & Modifications
Whether your home needs repairs, renovations, or modifications, IKOR of Charlottesville knows who the best contractors are in the IKOR of Charlottesville and what is a fair price to pay for the work you need to be completed.
In addition to helping you find and hire the right contractor, we’ll also provide on-site quality assurance so you can rest assured the work you need to be done is being completed in a timely manner and the workers are being held accountable for the quality of their work.
Coordinating In-Home Services
In-home care services are becoming increasingly common and play an important role in helping individuals remain safe and independent in the comfort of their home.
IKOR of Charlottesville coordinates across the spectrum of home care services and can help you find the best provider based on your situation. From non-medical in-home care to hospice care, you can trust us to find and manage the best provider in the Charlottesville area for your needs.
Once you have selected a provider, our Registered Nurse Advocate will perform announced and unannounced visits to ensure the highest quality care is being provided, and care plans are being followed.
Coordinating Living Arrangements
Aging in place is popular with many seniors, but not everyone wants to grow old in the family home. Some will prefer the lifestyle offered by a retirement community, while others want to downsize to a smaller home. Perhaps a loved one needs the help provided by an assisted living community. No matter what the needs are, IKOR of Charlottesville can help identify living arrangements that fit the preferences and needs of the individual.
Crisis Intervention
When an individual experiences a sudden and unforeseen medical emergency, it can be difficult for family members or close friends to set aside their emotions and work with medical professionals to determine the best course of action.
As part of our patient advocacy, IKOR of Charlottesville’s Registered Nurse Advocates are ready to step in during a medical crisis to ensure the treatment wishes of the patient are being honored. Additionally, they help family members understand the treatment options being proposed as well as the benefits and risks associated with each treatment option.
Document Organization & Review
When the unexpected strikes, being organized can make all the difference. From compiling and maintaining a record of all medications to collecting and organizing important medical and legal documents, IKOR of Charlottesville can gather and manage your essential life documents.
At your request, we can also review your documents for missing information and update your documents to ensure information is accurate and your care preferences are known. We work with many professionals throughout IKOR of Charlottesville and can refer you to a trusted partner should you need assistance with your legal or financial documents.
To learn more about essential life documents, please visit our resource page.
Durable Power of Attorney
IKOR of Charlottesville is experienced serving as the durable power of attorney for healthcare, finances, or both. Whether you are aging alone and want peace of mind, or you want to avoid family politics, our durable power of attorney service ensures you are protected should you become incapacitated and unable to make your wishes known.
End-of-Life Doula
An End-of-Life Doula provides non-medical, holistic comfort and guidance to those in the final stages of life. Many people are familiar with the concept of a birth doula. An End-of-Life Doula provides similar support serving as a trusted guide, coach, and confidant who works alongside the health care team to support a client and their loved ones while they navigate this universal phase of life.
Guardianship
IKOR of Charlottesville is trusted by the courts to advocate and manage the affairs of the most vulnerable in society. Guardianship is an undesirable situation for any individual to find themselves in.
To learn how you can avoid court-ordered guardianship, please visit our essential life documents resource page.
Medical Bill Review
Because medical billing errors have become commonplace, experts recommend not paying a medical bill unless the information on the bill is understood. IKOR of Charlottesville has the necessary expertise to understand your insurance company’s explanation of benefits or Medicare’s coverage, ensuring your bill is error-free and you are not being overcharged.
Should we find errors, we can work with the biller on your behalf to correct the error.
Medication Analysis
Adverse drug reactions are one of the leading reasons a senior will visit an emergency department. While many believe their doctor or pharmacist is monitoring their medications for potentially negative consequences, this isn’t always the case, especially if over the counter medications or supplements are part of the daily pill regimen.
IKOR of Charlottesville can perform a medication analysis to identify which prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, and supplements may interact to create an adverse reaction or lead to undesirable feelings, such as fatigue, nausea, or dizziness. When many specialists are involved, it is not uncommon to find duplicative or offsetting medications being prescribed to the patient.
Our Registered Nurse Advocates will work with the prescribing physician to optimize the medications a client is taking. This reduces the likelihood of an adverse reaction and can help lower the overall costs of medications.
Patient Advocacy
Our team of life care managers includes highly experienced Registered Nurse Advocates and geriatric care managers. They attend doctor appointments with clients, help our clients understand treatment options, coordinate care between primary care physicians and specialists, and ask questions to ensure our clients are getting the best care and treatment options available.
To learn more about how patient advocates can improve the quality of an individual’s healthcare, visit our patient advocate page in the resource center.
Personal Rights Protection
Seniors and individuals with disabilities are often finding themselves working harder to ensure their rights are not infringed upon. IKOR of Charlottesville’s team of experienced life care managers can advocate for the rights of individuals and will bring in other qualified professionals to protect a person’s rights as necessary.
Predatory Behavior & Financial Exploitation Mitigation
Scam artists and those who seek to exploit seniors, individuals with disabilities, and their families seem to know no bounds. Our life care managers are skilled at recognizing the tell-tale signs of financial scams and unscrupulous individuals. We will assess the situation and the risk to the individual, then offer plans to mitigate the risk.
In situations where an individual is being victimized, our team has the experience necessary to intervene to stop the victimization and make referrals to the necessary professionals to help put the victim back on the path to recovery.
Quality Assurance
From lawn care services to home repair contractors, IKOR of Charlottesville’s Personal Needs Coordinators are able to provide on-site quality assurance to make sure the service providers you’ve hired are delivering the quality you expect. Should problems arise, we will work with the provider to rectify the situation or bring in a different provider.
Our life care management team includes Registered Nurse Advocates who brings a trained eye to supervise the services being provided by in-home caregivers and other medical professionals. Through our RN Advocates, IKOR of Charlottesville is able to go beyond what other life care managers offer by providing oversight and quality assurance of the healthcare services being delivered.
Regular Updates & Communication
We pride ourselves on our responsiveness and proactive communication with our clients, or their families. Families who find themselves living at a distance from their aging loved ones can gain peace of mind from the updates IKOR of Charlottesville provides about their loved one’s care and any changes in their condition.
Simple Bill Pay
Whether you’re a senior who is finding it increasingly hard to manage your daily finances, or you are an adult child who has noticed financial decline in your parents, IKOR of Charlottesville offers bill pay services. These services help seniors remain independent while minimizing the risk of falling victim to a scam or having late payments on accounts.
Our simple bill pay services are flexible and designed to meet your needs. Your Personal Needs Coordinator can come to your home to pay bills with you, or handle paying your bills without bothering you. When we complete paying your bills, you will be provided with a detailed accounting of the bills we paid. We will always review your bill for accuracy and question the biller should we believe you have been incorrectly charged.
Treatment Compliance
The fastest road to recovery is following the doctor’s prescribed treatment plan. Poor adherence to a treatment plan can slow recovery or lead to other medical complications both of which costs the patients money and keep them from enjoying activities and time with friends and family.
IKOR of Charlottesville’s Registered Nurse Advocates can improve an individual’s overall healthcare by helping them follow the treatment plan. Should the anticipated outcomes of the treatment plan occur slower than expected, the Registered Nurse Advocate will coordinate with the doctor to adjust the treatment plan helping to ensure a timely recovery.