What is care management?

Care management includes steps to assure that a client receives the needed services in a supportive, efficient and cost effective process. Care management can include medical, psychosocial, functional, financial, and other services in response to a client’s needs.


Who are care managers?

A care manager is a professional, such as a social worker or nurse, who specializes in assisting older adults and their families attain the highest quality of care and quality of life given their circumstances.


Who seeks care management?

Anyone who is responsible for the safety, health, and happiness of an older adult and who needs advice and assistance in addressing issues associated with aging can benefit from care management. Care managers do not replace family involvement or decision making but instead support a family’s ability to care for their older adult relatives.


What is the difference between a caregiver and a care manager?

An in-home caregiver or companion will prepare meals, do light housekeeping and keep the person company. A care manager is a professional (nurse, social worker, gerontologist) trained to manage a range of health, functional, emotional, psychological, legal and financial issues related to aging. Often, clients hire care managers to recruit, train and supervise in-home caregivers to ensure medication compliance, nutrition, safety, and overall health.


How much do services cost, and who pays?

Sage Eldercare care management services are billed on an hourly basis to our clients. Fee schedules are available on request. Generally, our services are not covered by Medicare or private insurance and are therefore private pay.


How much will we pay each month?

Monthly fees depend on the scope of the care plan. When we deliver the written care plan, we provide an estimate of the monthly charges involved to deliver the recommended services based on a set of assumptions.


Will we receive a report each month?

Yes. We take great pride in delivering a detailed invoice to each client every month specifying the service we delivered in the previous month, the date of each action, time elapsed, fee, and a description capturing the results of the action. We have found these detailed invoices are the most effective way to provide family members (particularly those living at a distance) the best understanding of the goals and outcomes of each action taken on the client’s behalf.


Is there any long term commitment required?

No. Clients hire us for a specified amount of time or indefinitely to ensure continuity of care and services. Often, we help stabilize a situation for a client and then reduce our involvement to monitoring on a weekly basis.