Practice Area

Life Care Plans

Care After Injury

When a person sustains a disabling injury such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), amputation, severe burns, or spinal cord injury, they may need lifelong living assistance. They may need a person to help them each day with basic activities like dressing and eating; or they may need specialized equipment or modifications made to their home, along with re-training, therapy, medications, and so on.

The same catastrophe happens when children are born with a birth defect or birth injury such as cerebral palsy or Erb's palsy. For both adults and children, extensive therapy may be needed such as occupational, respiratory, speech, or physical therapy. There will usually be required medications, transportation expenses, and perhaps the cost of a long-term residential facility.

These arrangements need to be coordinated and at The Cochran Firm, we can help with setting up such a plan. We have extensive contacts nationwide with medical experts who have testified for us and with various organizations we have worked with to set up plans for our injured clients.

Individual Case Management

Each life care plan is entirely customized. A case manager will be appointed to coordinate all aspects and make sure they are taken care of in a timely manner and an efficient sequence. Some of elements of a life care plan are:

Hospital discharge planning
Placement of the injured person in an appropriate facility if necessary, or with family members equipped to meet the person's needs
Coordination of outpatient care medications, therapy, follow-up doctor visits etc.
Transportation that is wheelchair accessible
Housing modifications for wheelchair access or other support such as handrails
Obtaining special equipment such as oxygen tanks
Setting up educational arrangements or vocational services
Insurance paperwork Medicare, Medicaid, SSDI, SSI etc.
Budgeting in the shorter term and financial planning for the long-term

A Life Care Plan

Life Care Planning (LCP) Certification

Your Cochran Firm attorney would make sure that your life care planning manager is properly trained. There are certification programs at universities where nurses and other health care professionals can complete continuing education classes in person or online or a combination of those modes.

Online courses are often used and include electronic slideshows, chat room discussions with faculty, audio and video lectures, individual projects, and extensive reading about the types of disability that make life care plans necessary. There is also training in how to give court testimony. All courses and training must be completed within a certain timeframe and the university offering the program awards the final certificate.

Paying For Long-Term Care

If the person was disabled by an accident caused by another person's negligence, a personal injury attorney can represent that person and sue for damages. Awards and settlement amounts will usually be very large, enough to pay for lifetime living assistance as required in that individual case.

Whether the disability was caused by an auto accident, medical malpractice, or a property owner's dangerous premises, the court will usually determine how and when payments are to be made for the injured person's care. A life care planner can communicate with court officials to have this done in the most practical and helpful ways, and can then supervise the spending to make sure it is economical and timely.

If your loved one was disabled because of another person's negligence and you would like to know more about life care plans and how they are arranged, please contact our personal injury attorneys today. We will be pleased to give you a free consultation and if you would like us to obtain a life care plan manager for you, we are well-equipped to do that. Our offices are nationwide.