As a trusted advisor to seniors, individuals with disabilities, and their families, eventually, most professionals reach a point when they recognize they are at the limit of their expertise. Many professionals are aware of some of the care-related programs offered where they live, but understanding all the government and private programs, and navigating these complex areas for your clients individual circumstances can be time-consuming and confusing. Medical and Care related areas have a significant impact on our aging clients’ legal and financial situation. Eventually, when professionals reach a point where they feel overwhelmed and at the limit of their expertise, they tend to pull back on supporting their clients in these critical areas of their life.
Legal, Financial and Medical Professionals turn to IKOR of Western Pennsylvania for our expertise. We can be eyes and ears or to support family members when care and routine living concerns are not being addressed adequately. We also support those who do not have family members to support them.
We keep up with the best practices in medical care, coordinating with all medical, psychiatric, and therapeutic modalities. We have established relationships with most private duty medical and home care providers. We understand Medicare, Medicaid and waiver programs. We are well versed in local care related resources, keeping up with local, and state governmental programs and local living communities.
We closely follow changes in FINRA rules as it relates to vulnerable adults and the Seniors Safe Act for financial exploitation. We are seasoned in the allowable expenditures of Special Needs Trusts and we work with many local Trust and Wealth Management Organizations to support the care and routine living concerns of their clients.
Professionals most often come to us for help with one or more of the following areas of care related to a client that they support:
- Support with Medical or Disability Advocacy, Medication Management, Health & Wellness concerns. We are experts at supporting Special Needs Trust care and expenditures. We support Trust Beneficiary’s with support with complex medical and mental health or disability concerns.
- Coordination of Caregivers in the home or Care Providers living in the home
- Crisis Intervention or Hospital Discharge Planning and execution
- Suspected undue influence or abuse
- Help with Coordination of Waiver Services and Programs
- Caregiver Agreements and Lease Agreement Support for those living in Trust Owned Property with oversight
- Recommendations for safety, home modification or automobile purchases
- Proposals for large purchases for Trust Own Properties
- Level of care recommendations
- Quality of care recommendations
- An unbiased third-party review of a situation
- Yearly assessments for Care and Routine Living Concerns of Vulnerable Adults
- Planning and support for Children with Special Needs
- Oversite of care and routine living concerns
- Life Care Plans, Cost Utilization, and Cost Projections for Care
- Cognitive Assessment, Support, Treatment, and Oversight
- Visits to Care Communities to address quality of care
- Financial – Daily Money Management/Routine Bill Payment, or Durable Power of Attorney
- Environmental areas, housing, home maintenance, safety, mobility and modifications
What to expect when you work with us
A professional trusted and reliable presence — We work to support our shared client’s best interest. We aim to build trust, interconnection, and confidence by being a reliable presence in good times and in hard times.
Confidentiality — We work to earn our client’s trust. We recognize that we are involved in the most intimate details of our client’s lives. We go out of our way to ensure your client’s confidentiality, and that their privacy is maintained.
Innovation focused on results — Often care related services focus on how they’ve always done it. Many providers want the client to fit into the way they operate, but that doesn’t always meet the client’s needs or expectations. Our IKOR of Western Pennsylvania team is known for creating results through innovation in our work and in our programs.
Organizational and personal accountability — We strive to create a work culture that is transparent and accountable to our clients, their families, and our referral sources. Through our web-based Datikor 2.0 system, our invoices, notes, and conversations are specific, detailed, and focused on transparency.
Collaboration — We work to leverage collective genius among our team and yours. We work to create teamwork among all stakeholders and to mediate conflicts.
Commitment to our client’s best Interest — We support a fiduciary level of care. We work in unison with others while always keeping our client’s best interests our top priority.
FAQs by Our Financial and Legal Professional Customers
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As a Legal or Financial professional, you are highly skilled at addressing legal and financial areas of your client‘s lives, but when your client has medical, cognitive, mental health, care–related and support managing tasks that are routine live matters, you can quickly step outside of your comfort zone. We are as highly skilled in care–related areas of life as you are in your professional areas. We assess, plan, and offer support in all care areas and routine living. We also will act as Power of Attorney, Guardian, help with budgeting and routine financial areas, showing up at the hospital or in an emergency. We partner with you and your clients‘ families to offer the quality of life and support dignity and your client‘s care–related legacy.
We offer free consultation in Aging, disability, mental health, long term care (insurance too). We understand Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran‘s Benefits, all levels of care, and home care. We know the care system; we know the complexities of caring for vulnerable individuals. We know who to go to for assistance and navigate care–related areas of life. We know public and private programs, what they cost, and if your clients might be eligible for another program. The client‘s best interest is always our focus, and we help quantify what is in their best interest based on their financial situation, wants, needs, and expectations. We help you to build the bond with your clients and their families as a caring advocate supporting in all care–related areas that support is requested.
After years of seeing seniors in crisis because of a lack of understanding and insight, we recognize that the pre-planning for the aging process needs additional support. As a result of seeing this same crisis play out repeatedly year after year, client after client, we created the Planning for Dignity Program for those in the pre, and early retirement phase of life to proactively plan for Aging. This program works to help define an individual’s or couple’s thoughts and vision for their future. Through the Planning for Dignity Program, our clients create a plan for Aging that addresses potential issues that may challenge their quality of life, independence, and dignity related to health, safety, and preventable emergencies. We know the current costs of care and the types of care, and we can help pre-retirement individuals understand what approach to take with their finances to have the best quality of life. We help our clients make aging a financial discussion not just an emotional decision, through a Personalized Assessment process; by providing Aging Care Needs Education with costs, allowing them to create a Proactive Aging Plan as we facilitate a conversation around care and routine living areas.
We work to be flexible, and our work is customized to the individual and circumstances. We develop relationships with anyone involved and evolve the process based on the client’s needs and family’s requests. We keep detailed documentation on our interactions and communicate with family and professionals based on their circumstances and requests. We use text, email, fax, and logins to our proprietary systems to communicate. Employee caseloads are kept manageable to allow for good communication and relationships that meet the client‘s and families’ needs for information.
The word legacy is often used in the legal and financial industries related to financial and legal areas. However, care has a legacy too. How your family supports aging or disabled family members to maintain dignity and wellbeing helps create a healthy family system. Involving a life care professional or an advocate for the client keeps family connections functioning well with the right support. Being a caregiver is a complex and overwhelming responsibility. When there is a need to involve legal or financial professionals, a life care professional has the insight to pull in the right resources to solve the concern, keeping you connected in the areas that you need connection and resolving the areas that are not your expertise.
When navigating the aging journey, creating a thoughtful legacy involves much more than drafting a will. It’s about ensuring dignity, care, and comfort in your later years. At IKOR of Western Pennsylvania, we understand the complexities of estate and care planning and are here to help you avoid common pitfalls.
Download the list here: IKOR Top 11 Estate Planning Mistakes
We stay in our lane of care, and we know enough about your work to pull you in when your clients need your expertise. As long as your client approves us speaking with you (most clients sign a release), we can keep you up to date with as–needed calls, schedule monthly or quarterly calls, or have in-person meetings to act in collaboration with you in your client’s best interest. We take pride in our work and our relationships. Caring for vulnerable individuals is complex, and our care systems usually expect our clients to adapt to them. We know these systems well and make it our job to get the system to adapt to the client when we can. If you think we might bring value to your clients and your organization, we‘re happy to explore this further and address any questions you might have for us.
IKOR is a true partner in every sense of the word. Together, we evaluated the client situation on all fronts and jointly arrived at conclusions that provided the framework for the best action plans for our client.
Strategic Partnerships for Enhanced Client Care in Trust and
Estate Planning
Welcome to a new era of client service in Trust, Estate, and Financial Planning. At IKOR of Western Pennsylvania, we’re committed to enhancing the lives of our clients through our innovative Solutions for Dignity programs. We’re seeking visionary partners to implement specialized pilot programs focused on the well-being and dignity of early retirement and vulnerable individuals. By integrating our Solutions for Dignity into your Top Tier Service Model, you can expand your long-term care planning offerings and build a legacy around the intricate care needs of your clients. Contact us to learn how to elevate your client service offerings collaboratively.
Our Customers / Professionals