The Commission™ had its beginnings in a July 1990 case management conference and a survey conducted to determine interest and attitudes towards certification. As a result of the survey, a National Task Force on Case Management convened in Dallas on March 27, 1991. Notes from the meeting reference formation of a Steering Committee made up of 30 professionals representing 29 healthcare industry stakeholders. The organizers envisioned the establishment of an entry-level type certification that would demonstrate basic education, experience, and competence, evidenced by an examination.
A paramount concern was the varied training and background of people who called themselves case managers; incompetent practice could damage the emerging profession and endanger the well-being of patients. The idea was put forward that case management professionals themselves, rather than a regulatory authority, should oversee the credentialing process. As a result of the Dallas meeting, the task force set to work to research and develop what would become the first CCM® examination.
The work to develop case management certification included a number of milestones:
- Clarification of the case manager role and development of a draft definition of case management (August 23, 1991, Steering Committee Report)
- Finalization of case management definition and name of the credential: the Certified Case Manager (CCM) (July 3, 1992, letter to National Task Force)
- A 1992 bid to develop the certification process, won by the Certified Insurance Rehabilitation Specialists (now the Certified Disability Management Specialists)
- Development of certification eligibility guidelines, the role and function study, and the examination process
- Formation of an interim commission to oversee the certification process
- Refinement of the eligibility criteria for the Certified Case Manager (CCM®) credential
- Development and field testing of an examination in 1993
In 1993, The Commission™ offered its first credentialing exam. Some 12,000 case managers sought the CCM in its first year, well beyond the 1,000 or so applicants expected.
Other recent milestones:
- March 2011: The Commission™ launches the CMLearning Network® with its first webinar, “Health Reform 101: What You Need to Know About the Patient Protection Act”
- April 2011: VA approves CCM as a reimbursed credential under the Post-9/11 GI Bill
- August 2011: CCMC Case Management Body of Knowledge® launched
- October 2012: CCM Exam Workshops launched
- March 2013: CCM eligibility expanded to include health and human services professionals holding a bachelor’s degree
- December 2014: Workforce Development Toolkit launched to support case manager employers
- January 2016: Inaugural New World Symposium® is held in Las Vegas
- June 2016: National Association of Social Workers announces partnership with The Commission™ to endorse the CCM as the credential for health care social work case managers
- July 2016: Acquisition of CDMS credential
- September 2022: The American Case Management Association (ACMA) and The Commission™ announce a unified definition of case management and the creation of a joint Advocacy Task Force.