Issue Briefs
The role of the professional case manager is changing rapidly. Health reform has called upon the industry to ensure that care delivered is efficient, effective, high quality and low cost. Never in our history has the role and the function of the professional case manager been more important. The expectations of today’s case manager are evolving and the experts in policy, research and industry are talking with the Commission about changes affecting case management practice.
The Commission’s Issue Briefs are offered as part of the CMLearning Network®. Each publication covers topics that are timely and relevant to today’s professional case manager. If you would like a hard copy of an Issue Brief for your staff, or for use at a meeting, we can send you a limited amount at no charge. Simply make your request by filling out the form in the sidebar, and we'll be happy to send them to you.
The Issue Briefs displayed below are the most recent.
It’s all about the client: How augmented intelligence brings AI to bear on the case management process
“Technology, data and analytics have a very significant impact on the practice of case management, both how we’re using it in our daily work and how our clients are using it to manage their health. It's exciting to think about the possibilities that come with easier, faster access to the information that we need, to help clients live their healthiest lives.” — MaryBeth Kurland, CAE, Chief Executive Officer, CCMC.
This issue brief highlights: the difference between artificial intelligence, machine learning and augmented intelligence; aligning AI and the case management process; and how to become better consumers.
Same ethics, new context: Case managers must understand the new world of medical cannabis
“When I first started my career, medical marijuana was never even discussed. Today, I work with a lot of clients from all walks of life who are using it or thinking about it and weighing the pros and cons,” says Jared Young, PsyD, CAC, LCSW, CCM, chair-elect, Commission for Case Manager Certification®. If you aren’t encountering these patients, you soon will. Case managers, he says, have an ethical obligation to stay on top of the issue. That sometimes proves challenging. “The landscape is constantly changing. But with medical marijuana becoming more mainstream, we’re only going to be addressing these issues more and more.”
When everything is rarely enough: Palliative care and the power of asking the right questions
Palliative care is not curative; the goal is to improve quality of life. However—and this is what often gets missed—palliative care can occur alongside the most aggressive disease treatment. It provides a powerful opportunity for relief and even healing, but many clients, families and even health care professionals don’t fully grasp its full meaning.
Amplifying the client’s voice: For case managers, advocacy means empowerment
What stands between individuals and the health care services they need? The long list includes poorly designed regulations, unfriendly consumer insurance practices, lack of actionable information, a sense of powerlessness that can result in inertia—and so much more. Liz Helms, president and CEO of the California Chronic Care Coalition (CCCC), understands this well.
By documenting health disparities across the country, the Commonwealth Fund scorecard highlights how CCMs can better support clients
"Profound racial and ethnic disparities in health and well-being have long been the norm in the United States." That line opens the Commonwealth Fund's most recent health equity scorecard, titled "Achieving Racial and Ethnic Equity in U.S. Health Care: A Scorecard of State Performance." Researchers found that health care systems continue to fail many people of color in every state. Even in states with high-performing health systems, people of color often receive much worse health care than white people.
Although the details of the report are revelatory, the thesis comes as no surprise to most case managers, says MaryBeth Kurland, MPA, CAE, ICE-CCP, chief executive officer, Commission for Case Manager Certification. "This is one of the many reasons we embrace diversity. The Commission values diversity among its case manager and disability management specialists because having a diverse workforce helps broaden our reach."