Opportunity Knocks

Caring Concern

New service franchise provides care management for elderly and disabled.

May 2009

In the vast machinery of the American workplace, Patricia Maisano was a vital cog.  A registered nurse by training and an expert in case management, Maisano started her own consulting firm outside Philadelphia in 1991, assisting insurance companies, major corporations and unions in disability case management.

Maisano was extremely successful- but having served on various boards and having worked with a variety of associations focused on the needs of the elderly and disabled- she wanted to do more.  Exactly what she would do was crystallized by a phone call she took in 1997.

Maisano received a call from a woman frantic for help in dealing with care issues for her elderly mother.  As they talked, Maisano realized the woman’s needs weren’t that much different from help she was providing her clients.  After telling the caller she would be able to help her, Maisano curiously asked how the woman had gotten her number since her firm didn’t advertise.

“She found my name in a research book at the library,” said Maisano, who found out later that her staff received similar calls on a regular basis but told callers the firm worked on only a business-to-business basis.   “It made me realize how desperate her need was and the other calls we had gotten drove home the fact that this was a real problem.”

That same year, Maisano began to develop a business plan that would reshape her company and address the many frustrations inherent in integrated health management for the disabled and elderly.  She wanted to help families manage short-term health crises and long-term care issues, while ensuring that their loved ones; wishes and needs weighed most heavily on important decisions.

IKOR^® was launched in 2000 in the Philadelphia are and today it is the only company of its kind.  Unlike other businesses that serve the needs of the elderly and disabled, IKOR^® does not directly provide care services.  Instead, IKOR^® is an advocate, providing guidance, planning, oversight and implementation of plans designed to address clients’ important life issues, whether medical, environmental, legal or financial, including guardianship and even routine bill payment services.

The services are provided by highly experienced Registered Nurse Health Advocates and Personal Needs Coordinators and help to eliminate the stress of caring for an elderly or disabled individual whether an individual lives with their family or in a facility thousands of miles away.

The vast array of services is customized to a client’s needs and include selecting home healthcare assistance, recommending healthcare facilities or suggesting modifications to help clients remain safely in their home longer.  IKOR^® can coordinate management of medications, facilitate communications with doctors, provide on-site quality assurance monitoring of all care providers, provide professional guardianship services of a person or estate and much more.

THE STORY OF IKOR^®

Concept: Unlike other businesses that serve the needs of the elderly and disabled, IKOR^® does not directly provide care services.  Instead, IKOR^® provides a wide range of care management services including advocacy, guardianship, care planning and coordination, financial management and even routine bill payment services.  The services are designed to address clients’ important life issues- whether medical, environmental, legal or financial- while also helping families manage short-term health crises and long-term care issues.

IKOR’s services are used extensively when:

·         Families live at a distance from the elderly and/or disabled individual.

·         The elderly and/or disabled person has family members who are uncertain as to what to do or who may not be in agreement on what to do.

·         Family members have a challenged relationship with the elderly or disabled.

·         The elderly or disabled person is without an effective support structure.

·         Trust banks, attorneys, financial advisors and even the legal courts seek a responsible source to oversee the interests of their clients.

All advocacy services are coordinated by Registered Nurse Health Advocates (RNHA) who are experienced and board certified in specialties specific to the needs of the elderly or disabled, regardless of age.  Because information and guidance is provided by a neutral, highly skilled, single source within a cost-conscious platform, both client and family members can feel comfortable that their goals will be met appropriately.

Did You Know?: When choosing her company name, Maisano sought a unique word that would become synonymous with advocacy to the elderly and disabled, in the same way that other words have become synonymous with tissues or copying, to name a few examples.  IKOR^® is indeed unique, but Maisano came up with it in a rather simple way.  It’s the name of a family pet spelled backward.