Case Management Advisor articles from August 2003

Case Management Advisor archives from August 2003

Rural case managers give health plan a local presence: CMs succeed with creativity, understanding.
August 1, 2003... When a case manager for Presbyterian Health Plan couldn't get in touch with a family with two young children with serious health problems, she packed a lunch, charged up her cell phone, drove to the small New Mexico town on the Mexican border...

Safety, isolation are drawbacks for rural CMs: quarterly inservices make them part of the team.
August 1, 2003... Case managers who live and work in rural areas often face challenges their big-city counterparts never encounter. Safety is one drawback to having a case manager who lives in the local community and knows and is known by everyone, says...

Check for mental illnesses that can impede recovery: psychiatric problems are frequent comorbidities.
August 1, 2003... Case managers are the center of the universe when it comes to spotting psychiatric problems that can impede recovery and return to work, asserts Barton Margoshes, MD, chief medical officer for CIGNA Group Insurance, based in Bloomfield, CT. ...

Return to work helps recovery for the disabled: re-establishing normal life is important.
August 1, 2003... Being at work and re-establishing a normal life rhythm is an important part of a successful return to work after someone is disabled. That's why CIGNA's case managers do everything they can to get their patients back into their normal lives...

Include DM when you work with patients: comorbidities can negatively affect recovery.
August 1, 2003... Even if you're not a designated disease management case manager, you can help your clients manage their chronic diseases, according to Carole M. Stolte-Upman, RN, MA, CCM, CRC, CDMS, CPC, director of Chesapeake Disability Management Inc., a...

How to help patients make informed decisions: 'information prescription' should be part of care.
August 1, 2003... Case managers should always remember that giving patients the right information about their condition is a form of care, Molly Mettler, MSW, says. "It's more than semantics. We are saying that having good information is as important as any...

Bedside interventions reduce admissions, stays: plan targets disabled SSI members.
August 1, 2003... As a result of case management interventions at the hospital bedside, emergency department (ED) visits, hospital admissions, and net days in the hospital have dropped dramatically for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSI) population...

Partnership with providers is key to good care: health plan reaches out to hospitals, physicians.
August 1, 2003... When Philip Bonaparte, MD, joined Horizon Mercy as chief medical officer, his vision was for the health plan to be a partner with the local health care providers. "Although we are a health plan, we do not provide direct health care for the...

CE questions.
August 1, 2003... 6. Presbyterian Health Plan developed its rural case management program because: A. It needed to give the Albuquerque-based health plan a local face. B. Rural people are more likely to listen to some one who lives, in the community...

Associations endorse The Quality Initiative.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Kansas, Michigan, and Nebraska hospital associations have joined a growing list of American Hospital Association (AHA)-affiliated associations formally endorsing The Quality Initiative, the voluntary data reporting effort developed by the...

CDC addresses monkeypox cases.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued infection control guidance for managing people in the health care setting and community who may be infected with the monkeypox virus. In a late June news briefing, a CDC official...

Help from children keeps elderly parents at home.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... One-third of people age 70 and older with physical limitations received regular help from their children with basic personal care such as eating, bathing, dressing, or maneuvering around their home, although only 7% received help most of the...

Hospitals to participate in RWJF initiative.(Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has selected 10 hospitals systems to participate in a national program to reduce emergency department (ED) crowding and assess the health care safety net. The health systems will receive up to $125,000 to...

HIPAA.ICC.NET created to facilitate transmission.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Internet Commerce Corp. (ICC) says it has created a new service to address the need for health care payers and providers to exchange health care transactions that conform with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)...

HHS funds centers to serve uninsured.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Thirty-one new community health centers are to be funded through $16 million in grants recently awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The centers are expected to provide health care services to an estimated...

Send us Resource Bank items.
August 1, 2003... If you have a new resource, conference, or seminar that can help other case managers do their jobs better or more efficiently, Case Management Advisor wants to hear from you. Send items for publication to Mary Booth Thomas, Editor, Case...