Hello to all of our Readers,
It is finally spring! We hope that everyone is enjoying the start of the warm weather and staying safe.
In this edition of the newsletter, we have chosen to highlight some changes we made to our Future Care Costs product.
The Future Care Cost (FCC) is a structured, researched plan that identifies and estimates an injured or disabled person’s current and future needs in areas of medical, rehabilitation, equipment, home support and quality of life.
At GLA, only Certified Canadian Life Care Planners (CCLCP) are preparing the FCCs. They have gone through course work and training as well as passing an international exam in order to be qualified to practice as a CCLCP.
Over the years, our FCC’s have evolved based on case laws and the changing environment.
We have recently updated our FCC’s to include technologies fund and to show its impact on the cost of the FCC.
Medical technology and its associated costs are being investigated as a primary contributor in the ever increasing price of health care (Hirth, Chernew & Orzol 2000).
According to a study completed by Deutsch, Kendall et. Al in 2006, it suggested the need to either allow for a growth rate adjustment or provide a “technology fund” in FCCs to cover the changes in technology that are not reflected as a function of inflation as measured by the life care planner.
Paul Deutsch’s study looked at the impact of technology calculated from Era 1, being 1986-1991 and Era 2 being 2004 (13 – 18 years).
Paul Deutsch’s study revealed the following:
| Category of FCC |
Difference between Era 1 and Era 2 regarding
Average Annual Rate Increase Above Inflation |
| Manual wheelchairs |
3.51% |
| Home furnishings and accessories |
7.19% |
| Medications |
11.48% |
| Supplies |
8.25% |
| Future Medical Care – Aggressive Treatment |
14% |
Deutsch et. Al. (2006)
If you would like to see a sample of our FCC, please do not hesitate to contact us.
In addition, our Blog posts this month are related to the upcoming new SABS which in June 2016 will be introducing new requirements on the OCF-19 for CAT determination.
In order to prepare for these changes, we wanted to focus some blogs on the introduction of new psychiatric rating scales that will be used to combine the physical with mental/behavioural for CAT determination.
These 3 scales from the 6th edition of the AMA guides, include: the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), The Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) and The Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS).
Last month, we looked at the Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS). This month’s blog post will concentrate on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and The Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF).
To read more about the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), please click here.
To read more about the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF), please click here.
Best Regards,
Galit Liffshiz, MA OT Reg. (Ont.)
Expertise and Experience in Life Care Planning
Designated Capacity Assessor
|
