I'm now in charge of caring for my grandmother who is on Medicaid. Since she doesn't speak English, I'm going to be in charge of everything related to her health, finances, living conditions, etc. I'm a bit nervous, and one of the things I'm concerned about is how to keep organized. I already am writing down her medications, doctors, but things are getting unruly. What information should I be keeping as I care for my grandmother day-to-day? Do you have any tips on how to stay organized? Right now I don't know what I don't know. Thank you...
To keep organized, I bought myself large 3-ring binders, different colors represented a certain items, such as green for bank statements. Put these binders on a shelf, so they are easy to find.
I assume Medicaid is paying for her nursing home room, board, and care. Thus, there won't be many bills to deal with.
Are you able to sign your Grandmother's checks? Or do you keep a tab on what you have paid from your own pocket and Grandmother will reimburse you later? If it is a reimbursement, keep a separate binder for those items. I use to xerox the bill with the check on top of the bill to keep in a binder. My Dad used the tab system, but there were times when months would go by before I was reimbursed.
Do you have Power of Attorney for Grandmother? If not, who does? If Grandmother needs to go into the hospital, will that other person be able to rush over there quickly? Hospitals usually have interpreters available either in person or via telephone.
If a request is made for something for her, ie. AL asks you to bring her supplies, keep a copy of the request and staple the receipts to it.
For doctor's appt's etc., if you are attending, take notes in a diary/planner that has one page per day. Record any changes to medication etc. there too. If the doctor takes her pulse or BP, write those down too. You can also use this to write down changes you notice in behaviour. It is always hard to remember the dates and details after the fact. If someone else is taking her, ask them to take the planner and have the doctor record the basics of the visit. You will need to have a Healthcare POA for this, or a HIPPA release on file at the doctor's office.
I'm not sure how your state handles Medicaid qualification, but, one thing that I would recommend is to find out the contact information of the case worker and obtain the date when your LO will come up for annual review. It's usually the same time each year. Find out in advance what information they will require and the forms that need to be be completed. After a couple of years, my LO's file was passed to someone new and the mail went to the facility and not me, EVEN though, I had requested otherwise. They forgot and the facility, just let it sit and didn't call me. AND the case worker had mailed it last minute and was due within about 48 hours. If I had not been on top of it and inquiring, we would have missed the deadline. I actually filled it out and hand delivered it to the case worker so we did not miss the deadline. Sometimes, you have to really be proactive. If I had waited on others to do their job.....
Also once a year she/you should be getting a statement from social security with the an monthly benefit. Perhaps yearly pension statements too. Make sure you keep them. She may need to file income taxes so keep anything related to that.
Keep a list of phone numbers of the charge nurses desk, social worker, dietician and put them in your phone. I also write down all the names of the cnas and Lpns so I can get to know them by name. These are going to be your allies.
I usually bring a small steno pad in my purse and write a simple dated notation when I’m there like “doing well but tired”. “Spit out meds”. “Great day!” or notes if she had fallen etc. It’s amazing how all the days run into each other if you don’t take a few notes.
Wow, this is a great template
Thanks for Sharing.
Over the years I’ve noticed many receipts fade. As a result I’ve started copying them.
I haven't seen any mention of income from investments, if there are any. If so, I would also create a spreadsheet (password protected) with data on holders of stocks, bonds, etc., along with contact info, account numbers, etc. And be sure to print it out. When my computer took a long vacation, I had to have all the data on my hard drive backed up b/c I couldn't access it once the computer crashed.
I also keep all the investment data in my annual tax binder, along with expenses and other relevant data.
I like to flip back and see when I last bought certain supplies and make notes.
But the scanning is something my helper and I have been discussing doing on an annual basis.
I live a couple of hours away from my LO. I try to keep my ‘current’ notebook with me so I can more easily respond to issues as they occur.
I also keep a lot of info on my phone in notes section. Probably a bit redundant.
I want to insure that if something should happen to me that others can seamlessly take over.
I don’t always remember (three years later) why I made certain decisions so a quick note reminds me.
I think whether you carry in a binder or just have online is a personal preference. In my mom’s area internet access or phone access was iffy. So I developed my notebook as s result.
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