Life care planners utilize UCR (Usual, Customary, and Reasonable) methodology through specialized training and application of established benchmarks for cost projections, enabling them to act as expert witnesses in their field.
Life care planners use UCR charges to project accurate, defensible future medical costs in life care plans, sourcing data from specialized databases that provide geography-specific charges. Most utilize the 75th or 80th percentiles as benchmarks, aligning with major payer practices and published sources.
Specialized Training Builds Expertise
Training as a life care planner equips healthcare professionals with advanced skills in anticipating lifetime medical needs and costs.
For example, FIG Education provides a Nurse Life Care Planning course with emphasis on the nursing process and UCR costing methodology. Other programs, such as those from Kelynco, AAACEUs, IRET, etc., offer similar training options.
Conferences and webinars deliver continuing education to keep planners current on evolving best practices. Organizations like AANLCP and IALCP host LCP-specific events, supporting professional development and upholding field standards.
Life care planners demonstrate UCR expertise through a combination of clinical insight and particular training, making them ideal for accurate cost projections and even detailed medical billing analysis.
Have questions about UCR costing or life care planning?
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American Association of Nurse Life Care Planners (AANLCP). (2015). Nurse Life Care Planning Scope and Standards of Practice (W. A. Howland, Ed.). AANLCP.
Bate, B., & Kinney, S. (Eds.). (2024). A core curriculum for nurse life care planning (2nd ed.). Remington Publishing.
Johnson, C. B., Pomeranz, J. L., Yu, N. S., Robert, E., Davis, E., Woodard, L., & Penilton, D. (2022). 2022 Life Care Planning Summit: Costing techniques, survey results and development of a costing framework in support of the life care planning specialty. Journal of Life Care Planning, 21(1), 31–68.
Weed, R. O., & Berens, D. (2018). Life care planning and case management handbook. (4th ed.). Routledge.
https://www.aanlcp.org/
https://connect.rehabpro.org/lcp/home
https://www.aaaceus.com/
https://www.figeducation.com/nurse-life-care-planning/
https://iretprograms.com/