Eldercare Made Easy

PinnacleCare supports you and your clients to help deal with the challenges of aging. Whether you have older clients looking to maintain their independence or others who are caring for aging parents, a private health advisor is available to guide clients through our complex healthcare system to manage the health-related decisions they may be facing.

 

Video transcript

Dana, PinnacleCare Member: The diagnosis paralyzed my parents mentally. They would sit there, sort of glazed over listening to the doctors. I then sat there taking notes, trying to make sense of what they were saying and what our options were. Then sort of fast forward, we’ve signed up for Pinnacle[Care] and my healthcare advocate then not only attended appointments that I was at to help me understand it, but also attended appointments I couldn’t go to to then digest for my brother and I what was going on because they [parents] heard nothing. My parents couldn’t say why something was recommended or, “Well what drug did they say? Why did they say that drug?” Even though I gave them notebooks. Having Jane, who’s my healthcare advocate, there for them gave me the piece of mind that I didn’t have to travel up to New Jersey every time my dad had a new diagnosis or new appointment, Jane was there.

Steve Isack, Director of Member Services: We make sure that the family has the resources they need to help that elderly person. Everything from providing in-home care as well as guiding the family through the process of someone aging.

Carolyn, PinnacleCare Member: They had gathered all of her medical records, and I think it’s especially important in her case because she sees many doctors. She sees a lot of different specialists. Some of them prescribe different medications, and I think it’s important that the other doctors know what medication she’s taking. It’s so much easier to have all those records in one place. PinnacleCare manages and distributes to all these doctors so there’s no drug interaction or overdose of something.

Barry, PinnacleCare Member: My mother has a healthcare advisor in Florida and she takes care of everything for my mother.

Barry’s Mom: My Cherrie, she’s great. What does she do? She makes the appointments, she arranges, she talks to the doctors, she meets me with a hug and a kiss. She’s lovely! Lovely! She’s like a friend to me. And any questions, we discuss it and she brings up if there is anything that is- cause I have a lot of problems, you know, physical.

Naomi Cohen, Director, Northeast Member Services: I often go with my members when- especially when they’re elderly members, and they really appreciate having someone with them. The doctors appreciate it because they know someone is there organizing, coordinating.

Barry’s Mom: I ask many times people, you know, my age or younger than I even because they’re in their eighties and I’m in my nineties now, and I ask them, “Do you feel, when you leave your doctor’s, do you remember everything he says?” And they say, “No”, which I am aware of, and that’s where you need it. What are going to the doctor for if you don’t remember half of the things they say?

Dana: Jane, for example, can (because my mother has given her permission) call me and say, “Hey! You’re mom’s complaining about ‘X’. Did she tell you?” And we can talk about what we think works for my mother. Oh, it’s great! Because there’s times when I can say, “You be the bad guy. Don’t tell her you talked to me.” She can call my mom and say, “I really need you to do X, Y, or Z.” It’s also great because Jane also has authority where I don’t. Pinnacle[Care] has authority where I don’t. For Jane to tell her… it just has so much more weight. I’m not a doctor! I’m just her daughter who she thinks is bossing her around.

Barry’s Mom: I think the world of PinnalceCare because I think it makes my life so much easier and better.