A Free, Reliable Options Counseling Resource for Your Patients
When patients and families face long-term care decisions, you need a counseling resource that is fast, free, and unbiased.
MI Options Person-Centered Options Counseling at The Information Center connects your patients with certified counselors across the entire Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
When PCOC Helps Your Patient
Patient is being discharged after a hospitalization, fall, or rehab stay and the home situation has changed.
Family is conflicted about next steps and the decision is delaying discharge.
Patient has a new diagnosis, dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke, advanced cardiac or renal disease, that changes long-term needs.
Patient is functionally declining and needs to think through long-term care choices before the next event.
Patient is in a Skilled Nursing Facility and the family wants to discuss options for returning home or to a community setting.
Patient or family is asking questions about Medicaid, MI Choice, assisted living, or paying for care.
Patient is healthy now and wants to plan ahead and you want to give the family a starting point.
How PCOC Supports Your Workflow
Same-business-day response during phone hours. Most warm hand-offs reach a counselor on the first call.
No paperwork required from your team to make a referral.
Counseling is by phone statewide. In-person meetings are arranged where available.
PCOC counselors do their own intake. Your team does not have to gather eligibility information first.
If MI Choice or Community Transition Services is a fit, PCOC routes the patient internally to TIC. You do not have to make a second referral.
If a different community resource is a better fit, PCOC connects the patient there. The case does not boomerang back to your desk.
How to Refer to MI Options PCOC
Three ways to refer
Warm hand-off. Call 734-282-7171 with the patient or family on the line. The counselor takes the conversation from there.
Direct referral. Submit a referral online at with patient consent. The counselor reaches out within one business day.
Share our number with the family. When they’re ready, they can call us at 734-282-7171 to speak with someone who can help.
What we need from you
Patient or family contact information.
A brief note on the situation — diagnosis, discharge setting, family dynamics, only what you would normally share.
Patient consent for us to reach out, where required by your facility policy.
MI Options PCOC is Statewide
Counseling is available across the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.
Counties served include Wayne, Monroe, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Genesee, Kent, Ingham, Saginaw, Kalamazoo, and 50+ additional counties.
Refer Patients in the Lower Peninsula. 734-282-7171
Counseling is by phone statewide. In-person sessions where available. 1-800-803-7174
One Reliable Resource. Across Michigan.
Your team focuses on getting patients to the next step.
We focus on giving patients and families the calm, unbiased conversation they need to make a real decision.
Refer with confidence.
Common Questions from Healthcare Professionals
Same business day during phone hours for warm hand-offs. Within one business day for direct referrals.
No. PCOC supports discharge teams. Counselors do their own intake and route the patient to the right TIC program or community resource without sending the case back to your desk.
No. PCOC is free for everyone. Funded through an MDHHS grant.
No. PCOC has no income or asset limits. Anyone facing long-term care decisions can use it.
No. PCOC counselors are certified to be unbiased. They walk the patient through choices and let the patient decide.
Yes, where available. Counseling is by phone statewide.
Patient or family contact information, a brief note on the situation, and patient consent where your facility requires it.
Refer to PCOC if the family is still thinking through options. Refer to Community Transition Services if the goal is to transition the patient out of the nursing facility into a community setting. If you are not sure, refer to PCOC and we will route.
Yes. PCOC covers the entire Lower Peninsula. If the patient lives outside the Lower Peninsula, we will connect them with the right options counseling resource for their region.