Many significant injury cases - particularly those featuring catastrophic injuries -- require an assessment of the injured person's future medical needs. In addition, decision makers need to know how much this future medical care will cost.
Life Care Planners Can Be Extremely Helpful
We frequently hire expert witnesses in the field of life care planning to assist us with our catastrophic injury cases. Life Care Planners are often physicians who have received additional training and certification. Life care planners help attorneys estimate the future medical care and treatment needs of their clients, and then also help predict of the ongoing costs of such medical care and treatment. Life care planners assess, analyze, and predict future needs as: doctor visits. physical therapy, assistive devices (wheelchairs, walkers, canes, etc.), surgeries, diagnostic testing, medications, nursing, assisted living facilities, modifications to homes, modifications to vehicles, cost of transportation, psychological treatment, etc.
Life care planners frequently have to do a lot of leg work in preparing their analysis. They often conference with each of the treating physicians to determine what the future needs will be. As a result, life care planners usually charge significant fees. Those fees are usually paid by the attorney representing the injured party as part of the contingency fee contract.
If you have any questions about what a life care planner does, or why one might be important in your personal injury case, please call Winter Park personal injury attorneys Kim Cullen and Robert Hemphill at 407-254-4901.
