Life care plan chronology sample: an incomplete spinal cord injury
Answer in brief: a life care plan chronology has 2 parts. A short event table shows how the injury and its complications unfolded, and a second table lists each future care item with the clinician who recommended it, the frequency as written, the page, and whether it is in use, recommended or only "considered". This sample shows both on a 230-page synthetic file, no real patient.
Limits: Every sample here is synthetic: no real patient, invented names and invented page numbers. Rules quoted for QME and Social Security work come from the cited regulation, read 2026-11-12; they are not legal advice, and facts about other sample libraries come from each publisher's page on that date.
The synthetic file
| Person | Patient G, 31, construction worker. Invented. |
|---|---|
| Injury | Fall from scaffolding on 2023-09-02. T10 burst fracture, incomplete spinal cord injury. |
| Who reads it | A physician or nurse life care planner building the medical foundation, or a physician asked to review a plan's medical basis |
| File | 230 pages from 7 sources: trauma center, inpatient rehabilitation, urology, emergency department, physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), psychology, durable medical equipment vendor |
Part 1: the event chronology
8 rows. Short on purpose: in a life care plan, the events explain the needs, and the needs are the product.
| Date | Source | What the record says | Page | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-09-02 | Northgate Trauma Center | T10 burst fracture. T8 to T12 posterior fusion. "AIS B" on admission exam. | 15-40 | Verbatim |
| 2023-09-20 | Crestview Inpatient Rehabilitation | Admission. Exam now "AIS C." Neurogenic bladder and bowel. | 60-66 | Change in grade A1 |
| 2023-11-03 | Crestview Inpatient Rehabilitation | Discharge: manual wheelchair for mobility, walks 30 feet in parallel bars with bilateral knee-ankle-foot orthoses. Intermittent catheterization every 4 to 6 hours. OT recommends a home accessibility evaluation. | 90-98 | Source of 3 items |
| 2024-03-12 | V. Raman, MD, urology | Urodynamics: neurogenic detrusor overactivity. Oxybutynin. Annual urology visit with renal ultrasound. | 120-124 | |
| 2024-06-18 | Northgate ED and hospital | Febrile urinary tract infection. Admitted 2 days. | 130-140 | Complication |
| 2024-10-08 | E. Brooks, MD, PM&R | Stage 2 pressure injury, sacrum. New pressure-relief cushion; replace yearly. | 150-153 | Complication |
| 2025-01-21 | E. Brooks, MD, PM&R | Annual visit. Plan list: wheelchair replacement, outpatient PT, "consider" bone density scan. | 160-166 | Source of 3 items |
| 2025-04-02 | J. Ferrante, PhD, psychology | Adjustment disorder with depressed mood. Cognitive behavioral therapy, 12 sessions. | 170-172 |
Part 2: the future care foundation
9 items. Every item points to the note that recommends it. "Status" says whether the item is in use, recommended, or only mentioned as a possibility.
| Category | Item | Recommended by, date | As written | Page | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Manual wheelchair, replacement | E. Brooks, MD, 2025-01-21 | "Replace every 5 years" | 164 | In use; replacement recommended A2 |
| Equipment | Pressure-relief cushion | E. Brooks, MD, 2024-10-08 | "Replace yearly" | 152 | In use |
| Supplies | Intermittent catheters | Crestview Rehab, 2023-11-03 | "Catheterize every 4 to 6 hours" | 97 | In use |
| Physician care | Urology visit with renal ultrasound | V. Raman, MD, 2024-03-12 | "Annually" | 123 | In use |
| Medication | Oxybutynin | V. Raman, MD, 2024-03-12 | Dose and frequency on the prescription | 122 | In use |
| Therapy | Outpatient physical therapy | E. Brooks, MD, 2025-01-21 | "2 times a week for 12 weeks, then reassess" | 165 | Recommended |
| Psychology | Cognitive behavioral therapy | J. Ferrante, PhD, 2025-04-02 | "12 sessions" | 171 | In progress |
| Home | Home accessibility evaluation | Crestview OT, 2023-11-03 | "Recommend home accessibility evaluation" | 98 | Recommended, not done A3 |
| Testing | Bone density scan | E. Brooks, MD, 2025-01-21 | "Consider DEXA" | 165 | Considered only A4 |
Annotations: why the tables read the way they do
- A1, record the grade each time it changes. The injury grade moved from AIS B to AIS C in 18 days. Function, equipment and prognosis all depend on it, so each grade gets its own row with the exam it came from.
- A2, use the clinician's frequency, not a typical one. "Replace every 5 years" and "2 times a week for 12 weeks" are quoted from the notes. A planner may later use published replacement schedules, but the chronology's job is to show what the treating clinician wrote, so the 2 sources stay apart.
- A3, recommended but not done is its own status. The home evaluation was recommended at discharge and never happened in the file. That is a fact the planner needs: the item has a source, but no one has scoped the work.
- A4, "consider" is not a recommendation. A note that says "consider DEXA" supports asking the physician, not adding the item. The Status column keeps the difference visible so it does not get lost when the plan is costed.
What a life care plan chronology adds to a base table
- A second table for future care, separate from the event chronology.
- The recommending clinician and date for each item, with the page.
- Frequency and duration as written, in quote marks.
- A status for each item: in use, recommended, in progress, recommended but not done, considered only.
- No costs. Pricing items is the planner's work, done with their own sources. The chronology supplies the medical basis only.
Common misses in life care plan chronologies
- Items listed with no recommending note, often carried over from a template plan.
- "Consider" and "may need" treated as firm recommendations.
- Complications (infections, pressure injuries) left in the event table but not linked to the supplies and visits they created.
- Frequencies taken from general tables and presented as if a treating clinician wrote them.
- Equipment vendor records left out, though they show what is actually in use.
Questions about life care plan chronology samples
Should a life care plan chronology include costs?
No. The chronology gives the medical basis for each item. Costing is a separate step for the planner, with its own sources.
What if no clinician has recommended an item the patient clearly needs?
Leave it out of the foundation table and list it as a question for the treating physician. An item with no medical source is the easiest to challenge.