Long Term Care Placement - Lighthouse For Our Elders.com

Lighthouse For Our Elders’ Placement Services Division was borne out of necessity. The continual jeopardy that Placement Agencies currently put our Elders in has got to stop. The quality of life of these individuals is at risk and being compromised for monetary gain.

In addition, quality Long Term Care providers suffer from having to pay these middle men to provide them clients. Resulting in higher fees to the elder to defray this unnecessary expense. In addition, responsible parties, i.e. the families of these elders, are lulled into complacency believing that the agency has performed due diligence on their behalf, only to find it to be untrue. As a consequence of having no regulations, most agencies even go as far as to disguise or even lie about the fact that they are receiving payment and allow the families to believe that this is a free service. In the current paradigm, no one wins.

Clearly, it is our mission to clean up this industry. We operate with the highest ethics, highest credentials & with the goal of ensuring a quality of life for those looking for long term care. In addition, our ultimate goal is to educate the public and the long term care provider to the degree that placement agencies are no longer needed. Oddly, our business plan is to become extinct! But all for the greater good.

What is a “Placement Agency”?

Known by many different names, i.e. Referral Agency or Registry, it is a “middle man” who contracts with care providers for a fee & refers elderly clients who need care. These elders often come by way of hospital discharge planners, nursing homes, physical therapists, physicians or other long term care providers.
What regulations do Placement Agencies follow?
NONE! As perplexing as this may seem, there is currently no oversight for this facet of our industry. This means, there are no licenses, certificates, inspections, minimum criteria for operators or ethics & standards to operate within. Therefore, most agents are free to operate how they see fit.
What criteria do agencies use for placement?
Since there is no regulation, or minimum level of credentials for agents, there is no consistent standard for assessment. In addition, since this is a fee-for-service industry, most agencies will NOT refer clients based on true need, only offering referrals to those providers they represent, despite a better fit being available. It is also reported that agencies will only refer to the most expensive providers, thus, this entire industry is based on a conflict of interest. That’s why we are here….to set a new standard!

The Good News! Lighthouse for Our Elders is creating a new standard for this industry.

Credentials/Experience:
Current Standard: NONE, most agents do not possess any certifications, licenses or applied experience in the fields of aging/long term care.
Lighthouse Standard: We are a team of long term care providers, our founder is a
Gerontologist and instructor of long term care administration in the master of arts program at SFSU. He has 10 years applied experience as owner/licensee of two assisted living facilities.
Pre-Screening Elderly Clients:
Current Standard: NONE, why it’s acceptable for a non-credentialed individual to perform what should be a professionally performed geriatric assessment is mind-blowing. Often these assessments are poorly performed, or in some documented cases, intentionally done wrong to force a square peg into a very expensive round hole - purely for profit with quality of life lost.
Lighthouse Standard: A complimentary,
comprehensive geriatric assessment is performed involving not only the elder, but the decision makers, current caregivers/providers and MD’s. Performed by a Gerontologist
Pre-Screening Providers:
Current Standard: NONE, often the home is not physically inspected, done by phone &
typically based on a low-census due to a flawed program, preference going to most expensive.
Lighthouse Standard: A full, licensing-style, Q/A audit using a 100 point survey of tangible and intangible aspects of each home. Physical plant, recent state audit, program design, menu plan, activities, staffing ratios & education are factors. To assure quality, providers will be required to take an additional 20 hours of state approved online training.
Fee Structures:
Current Standard: 100% of rent, plus care fees, spread over the first two months.
Lighthouse Standard: 50% of whatever is charged to the client in the first month!
Follow Up:
Current Standard: NONE, many agents promise to follow up with clients, however, once the check is in hand, they don’t return until there is another placement in the cue.
Lighthouse Standard: Since we will have a long term relationship with the families and the providers through support, training & consulting, we will know exactly how all parties are doing through all phases of the process.

Family Support: Lighthouse has assisted hundreds of families navigate through the process of placement, mortality & other challenging experiences of the aging process. We coach families through the myriad psychological traumas that plague the typical American family. Often, the family is neglected in the chaos of placement, leaving them vulnerable, threatened and upset. We, as providers know, leaving a family out of the equation can place our client & our business in jeopardy. Lighthouse prepares the family or decision maker for what is to come, making everyone’s role much easier.

Provider Support: We are here to help. Our goal is to boost your business by way of helping you create the ideal program. NOT to create a co-dependant relationship. We are certified trainers & consultants - let us help you take your services to the next level.

Referral Support: We speak the language, we are practitioners ourselves, we know what you need, we are here at a moment’s notice, call us with your referrals - any time.

Our process, while more thorough than any other placement service, is very straight forward. Here are the steps:

As objective as you can be, evaluate your home and determine whether you are ready to give us a call…..once you believe your home is at it’s best, CALL US

Welcome us into your home and be there to answer the myriad questions we have during our INSPECTION and information retrieval session – don’t worry, we won’t bite – we are very friendly and free with constructive advice and support. Upon qualifying, sign our contract, which you will receive a copy of! NOTE: WE DO NOT FAX OR EMAIL CONTRACTS without first inspecting your home, please don’t ask.

Once qualified, sign up for and complete our EDUCATION REQUIREMENT – 20 hours of training on: Managing Dementia Holistically, Managing Families of those in Long Term Care and, possibly most important, Managing Stress and Burnout in Long Term Care – all classes are certified for renewal of RCFE/ARF/RN/MFT and LCSW licenses and certificates. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Prepare yourself for qualified referrals.

We look forward to working with you!
Please call, toll-free: 888.500.4245 to setup an appointment
We prefer speaking with you, however, you are welcome to email us as well,
email: Contact@LighthouseForOurElders.com

* Provdier testimonials proudly provided upon request *