Case Management Advisor articles from January 2003

Case Management Advisor archives from January 2003

How to face down ethical dilemmas in case management: remember, your primary role is being an advocate for the patient.
January 1, 2003... If you're a typical case manager, you are faced with ethical dilemmas several times a day. The job is pressure-filled. Case managers are under pressure from insurers to contain costs, from employers to return people to work. They may be working...

How to know when you're facing an ethical dilemma: consult supervisor, peers, CCMC for assistance.(Commission for Case Manager Certification)
January 1, 2003... When you're confronted with an issue that just doesn't feel right, ask yourself: Am I truly doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason? If the answer is yes, you're probably making an ethical decision, says Mindy Owen,...

Confidentiality may involve sticky legal, ethical issues: think before you share patient-sensitive information.
January 1, 2003... When it comes to confidentiality issues, case managers often walk a tightrope, Mindy Owen, RN, CRRN, CCM, asserts. Case managers have to be careful about what kind of information they share with family members, insurers, employers, and even...

Initiatives target publicly insured young people: case management programs begin with pregnancy.
January 1, 2003... A series of case management initiatives to improve the health of their publicly insured young populations has paid off for Horizon/ Mercy. On the heels of its successful program to provide better prenatal care for its pregnant Medicaid...

Program stresses childhood immunizations: case managers educate publicly insured mothers.
January 1, 2003... Before Trenton, NJ-based Horizon/Mercy started its Children's Health Assessment, Maintenance, and Preventative Services (CHAMPS) program for publicly insured mothers with infants, many of the mothers didn't realize the importance of getting...

Sickle cell program prevents ED visits, admits: education, access to specialists are keys to success.(emergency department)
January 1, 2003... In the first four months, Horizon/Mercy's sickle cell disease management had identified 111 members with sickle cell and started an education program to help them avoid a painful crisis and hospital admissions. "Sickle cell is a high-cost...

Lead levels plummet with intensive case management: parent education is the key to initiative.
January 1, 2003... When Horizon/Mercy compiled the six-month outcomes report for its program to reduce the level of lead in its young members' blood, the figures were so astonishing that the state epidemiologist monitoring the program checked them himself. ...

Program gives members tools to manage own health: members empowered with information.
January 1, 2003... Thanks to BlueHealthConnection, a new integrated care management program, more than a million members with coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan have just one source for answers about their health care needs. The...

Redesign puts CM programs under one umbrella: aim: members to receive proper interventions.(care management)
January 1, 2003... BlueHealthConnections, a care management program in use at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in Detroit, pulls together a lot of care management programs that have been in place for many years. "We had case management, we had disease...

Integrating CM was a long, complicated process: insurer decided to create the program in-house.(Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan)
January 1, 2003... Before Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan developed its BlueHealthConnection representatives of almost every department in the company spent considerable time deciding exactly how to integrate all of the Detroit-based insurer's patient care...

Depression guidelines help chronically ill: behavioral issues can exacerbate conditions.
January 1, 2003... Kaiser Permanente, one of the country's largest integrated health care organizations, has developed guidelines for incorporating depression management into its disease management programs. The organization's Care Management Institute (CMI)...

CE questions.
January 1, 2003... 1. Case managers engaging in activities that are not in their scope of practice is one of the most prevalent ethical problems in case management, according to Mindy Owen, RN, CRN, CCM, chairwoman of the ethics committee and a member of the...

Health insurance declining among workers.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Health benefits are declining for Americans for the first time since 1993, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). The 2001 decline in the percentage of Americans receiving health insurance as an employment benefit is...

Plan knowledge affects how consumers look at cost of drugs.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Consumers' drug-buying behavior may be based on how much they know about their personal health care coverage, a Harris Interactive survey has revealed. According to the survey, consumers with low levels of knowledge about their coverage...

Physicians report frustration with managed care red tape.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Sixty percent of physicians responding to a survey by the Pennsylvania Medical Society expressed frustration with eroding patient-doctor relationships and blame lack of time for the problem. The survey of 330 physicians revealed that they...

Mental health, musculoskeletal conditions, impact productivity.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Musculoskeletal conditions, including arthritis, low back pain, repetitive motion strain, and mental health problems, mostly depression, have the biggest negative impact on worker productivity, according to a new survey by the Institute for...

White Paper addresses HIPAA concerns, disease management.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... A comprehensive analysis of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) and its impact on disease management has concluded that the new privacy regulations will not hamper disease management programs, according to the Disease...