The most recent S2KM blog post highlights the growing strategic importance of life care planners for structured settlement and personal injury settlement planning professionals.
To gain additional knowledge about life care planners, S2KM interviewed Wendie A. Howland, MN, RN-BC, CRRN, CCM, CNLCP, LNCC, owner of Howland Health Consulting, Inc., which S2KM will publish in three blog posts addressing life care planning qualifications, case management, industry standards, and criticism of life care planners.
In addition to her education and certifications, Wendie's professional background includes work as a critical care nurse; catastrophically-injured workers case manager for multiple insurance carriers; and complex medical records review and analysis for catastrophic workers' compensation and liability cases at the reinsurance level.
Recognized as a national expert for nurse standards of practice and care issues, Wendie's current practice includes life care planning and complex medical records review and analysis for liability, workers compensation, elder/trustee, SSDI and Medicare set-aside (MSA) cases. Among her many professional affiliations, Wendie also serves as Editor for both the Journal of Nurse Life Care Planning and the Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting.
S2KM: Wendie, thank you for participating in this interview. What is your best estimate of the number of life care planners in the United States? How many (or what percentage) of the total have:
- A life care planning certification credential?
- A nursing background?
Ms. HOWLAND: I am not sure it is possible to know exactly how many people hold current life care planning credentials of any kind, but the last numbers I have heard are roughly 800 for Certified Nurse Life Care Planner (CNLCP), 2000 for Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP) (approximately 80% of which are not nurses), and 100 for Lifetime Nurse Care Planners (LNCP-C).
S2KM: One of the impressive characteristics about life care planners appears to be their commitment to certification and continuing education. What is your educational background and what certification credentials have your earned?
Ms. HOWLAND: My primary credential in nursing was a B.S. degree from Boston University (nursing major). I earned my master’s degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, in the thesis program for physiological nursing (cardiovascular/critical care). Since my first clinical work was in critical care as a staff nurse and then as a critical care clinical specialist, I earned certifications in critical care nursing and nursing education.
My second career in nursing was in case management, primarily in worker’s compensation and liability for which I earned certifications in case management (CCM, RN-BC) and rehabilitation nursing (CRRN). Many of us in legal nursing consider life care planning “case management on steroids,” so life care planning was a logical next step as I gained expertise.
Now, as a certified nurse life care planner I hold the CNLCP and LNCP-C credentials, and the LNCC for legal nurse consulting. These credentials require both education and experience, what the military would call “time in grade,” as well as sitting for psychometrically-validated exams. To renew them, I take many hours of continuing education and perform other qualifying activities (such as editing professional journals, teaching, and publishing) and submit proof for approval to the respective certifying bodies every five years.
S2KM: What criteria are most important in selecting a life care planner?
Ms. HOWLAND: There are several, in my opinion. First, of course, is looking at the life care planner’s clinical experience. Does the planner have expertise, experience, and connections in the injury or condition involved in the case? Second, certifications are important as they demonstrate experience, competence, and commitment to continued learning in the field. Certification in life care planning should be a given, but judging by some of the plans I have been asked to review, apparently it is not. Third, looking at the credentials and licensure that underlie the planner’s practice is critical. Do they grant the ability to assess, opine, and prescribe for the injury or conditions involved?
Many people think that only physicians are licensed to assess and prescribe for ill or injured people, but that’s not true. It’s important to know the difference between the legal requirement for physicians to prescribe medications or perform surgery, for example, and an insurance company’s requirement to have a physician’s name on a request for goods and services (such as equipment, physical therapy, visiting nursing, assisted living, and others) solely as a means of financial control. I always collaborate with treating physicians and therapists if possible when I’m formulating a life care plan and include their recommendations.
Registered nurses are required to implement some (not all) parts of a medical plan of care. RNs are also licensed to assess function and response to illness or injury and to develop an independent nursing plan of care. We can and do recommend further assessments by other disciplines, adaptive equipment, hours and kinds of nursing care in any setting, and many other needs found in a good life care plan.
In addition, good research and writing skills are important. Life care plans should never be “canned,” i.e., the same for every case, with no evidence of individualization or current research. Every item should have reference to a current assessment need, availability, replacement/maintenance, and source for cost.
Lastly, since much life care planning work involves litigation and may call for deposition or trial testimony, it is generally a good idea to look for someone with public speaking experience and confidence under questioning.
S2KM: How important is the personal injury market for life care planners? How much of your own work involves personal injury cases?
Ms. HOWLAND: Most (but not all) life care planning practices do work that involves litigation, and that usually involves some kind of injury. Examples include workers' compensation, medical malpractice, and personal liability. MSAs represent a growing field of practice. Almost all of my work involves personal injury cases.
S2KM: When you work on personal injury cases, in what percentage of your cases:
- Are your clients plaintiffs vs. defendants?
- Are you retained as a potential expert witness?
- Are you directly involved in settlement negotiations?
Ms. HOWLAND: My cases are about half plaintiff and half defense. Plaintiff clients are interested in knowing about needs and related costs over life expectancy for a person with an injury or other condition. Defense clients are interested in knowing what potential costs could be and why, so they can set reserves and prepare for negotiations. They also want to know if a plaintiff life care plan is reasonable and fair.
Life care planners who are not employees of a defense or plaintiff entity expect to have their work product introduced as part of litigation. I have never been directly involved in settlement negotiations, nor have most life care planners in my experience. I work with my client to make my work comprehensive enough that it can stand on its own as counsel’s tool for negotiations. Some life care planners also work with trust officers after litigation is settled, to help them understand how the money can be spent most appropriately and identify case managers to implement the plan.
S2KM: How much time does it take to develop a personal injury life care plan and how are you compensated?
Ms. HOWLAND: My life care plans for catastrophic injury cases generally take between forty to sixty hours of work, not including travel and testimony time. Like most of my colleagues, I take a retainer and work against it, having it replenished as needed, and provide a detailed invoice monthly or more often if the client requests it.
S2KM: What is the difference between a life care plan and a medical cost projection?
Ms. HOWLAND: A medical cost projection is generalized for a medical diagnosis, as opposed to a comprehensive nursing assessment. It does not include a personal patient assessment. A medical cost projection may be important early post-injury, for example, to help a client set preliminary reserves. I am usually asked to provide medical cost projections soon after injury or as a preoperative estimate when precision isn’t necessarily critical. Since every case progresses differently, it is not possible to know what complications or special circumstances will arise. So the disclaimer says that further information will be helpful to make a more meaningful estimate.
S2KM: Assuming your work product (life care plan) is utilized to develop a personal injury settlement plan, how frequently are you asked to review the settlement plan: 1) prior to its implementation and 2) subsequent to implementation to adjust for new developments or changed circumstances?
Ms. HOWLAND: I have never been asked to review a settlement plan to see how well it matches my recommendations. It is almost impossible for life care planners to obtain information about outcomes or to discover how much, if any, of their life care plan recommendations were actually implemented, or how effectively. That is one of the major barriers to better research in life care planning. Most responsible life care planners inform their clients that a life care plan should be updated at intervals to account for changes in the individual’s condition and also include provisions for a case manager to implement their plan.
S2KM: How can other settlement planning professionals (including plaintiff attorneys, special needs attorneys, settlement trustees and structured settlement brokers) improve their working relationship with life care planners?
Ms. HOWLAND: They should know what they want, know what they can get from us, and know how to use us to their best advantage. They should communicate clearly, with adequate advance notice, what their expectations are, how much they expect and are willing to pay, and how they will use our work products. Nobody wants surprises.
In Parts 2 and 3 of S2KM's interview with Wendie Howland, Wendie will discuss life care planning associations, industry standards and issues as well as criticism of life care planners.
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