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Hospital Case Management

Decent Essays

If case management services were used across all hospital and emergency room settings, instead of in only the larger hospital setting, the cost associated with super utilizers would be able to be significantly decreased. If the gentleman I discussed had been able to work with a case manager, it is possible that they would have been able to recognize that the reason he was utilizing the ER instead of a regular physician clinic was because he didn’t have reliable transportation or anyone to bring him to the office. They may have realized that his home environment was less than satisfactory and that his home was falling down around him. If assessed early enough; and referrals had been made to programs such as the CHOICES program, early intervention may have changed the outcome of his situation. Most of the time, the emergency department doctors and nurses are too busy to do the outreach that needs to be done. They likely looked at him as a frequent flyer or a “crazy” old man. Studies have shown that seventy percent of frequent users of emergency services were homeless or qualified for …show more content…

If the managed care organizations and the insurances are looking to save money and hospitals and ER departments are looking to reduce costs; case management is one way that they could do this. Sure it will cost them the salary of the case management staff but the cost savings would be huge to all involved. Studies have shown that there is a dramatic reduction in the number of ER visits when patients are followed by or referred to case management services (Pope, Fernandes, Bouthillette, Etherington, 2000). Through better use of available community resources, supportive counseling, liaison services and mental health resources; case managers are able to provide and ensure that patients are getting more consistent care. This situation would then be a win/win for all parties

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