Importance Of Quality Assurance Is A Case Management Program

Case managers also provide support and information to patients and their families. Next, is utilization review. `Its main objective is to review each case and determine the most appropriate level of services, the most appropriate settings in which the services be delivered, the most cost efficient methods for care delivery and the need for planning of subsequent care. Other methods used for utilization and control are choice restriction and practice profiling' (Douglas, 2003, p.328).

Case Managers have a challenging job, often dealing with patients, community agencies and facilitating their hospital discharge to the next level of care. They collaborate and communicate with the entire healthcare team and mostly with the patient during the hospitalization process. They act as support for all stakeholders to achieve positive patient outcomes. In this paper, I will be interviewing Ian Mopas, who is a Patient Care Coordinator at Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City about his education, work training, goals, and objectives as a Care Coordinator, and his responsibilities in his organization.

It is extremely important for those responsible for planning and preparing EQA activities to be very thorough in its procedures. It is at this crucial step that the framework for all understanding of the particular problem or organisation is to be related to the system itself by the assurer. In this preparation, a clear explanation of the risks, benefits and validity of the processes are discussed and presented. Holistic and general compliance is the target and should be remembered as such during these preparations. Continued and flowing success is the ultimate result in this type of work.

The Case Management program is offered by Kaiser Permanente to support members with complex medical, psychosocial, and care management essentials. This specialized service is provided by case managers. The case managers are either Registered Nurses who are certified in case management or qualified Social Workers. Case managers provide necessary information and education to promote understanding, reduce the chance of possible complications, and facilitate effective and proper delivery of care and services.

How does case management achieve efficiencies in the delivery of health care? How does case management differ from disease management?

According to an article published in Case Management Advisor (2008), education assists case managers with being as knowledgeable as possible to identify and coordinate all the resources that their patients need and continued education is an ethical responsibility of a case manager. The article also suggests that advocacy is an ethical responsibility of a case manager. When advocacy is forgotten ethical issues occur. Fraser and Strang (2004) explain that case managers must be given the tools to allow them to function in their role with confidence and competence to act as strong advocates for their patients. Support for decision making is also a key component of case management. Coffman (2001) offers key points from The Code of Professional Conduct for Case Managers advising that case managers are guided by the principle of autonom. Case mangers achieve autonomy through advocacy. If case managers are expected to function with complete autonomy, then case managers require the assusrance that their leader ship will support them when difficult decisions have to be made, (Fraser and Strang, 2004). The concept of employer employees explains that by involving employees in developing the mission and values of the company, this allows employees feel empowered (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2007). By allowing the case manager to be part of the development of the

What do you consider to be the key issues for quality improvements in the NHS quality-improvement program as it goes forward?

In order to, differentiate between utilization management and case management using the seven case management standards, it is first important to define each individual component. To begin with, a key component of quality and cost effective care is Utilization Management (UM). Utilization management is a way to assure that the appropriate care is medically efficient, a suitable use of health care services, proper procedures, and is applicable with provisions aligned in the health benefits plan. Case Management engages quality services in a timely coordination of patients’ specific needs in an approach that promotes positive outcomes by means that are cost effective. Case management may be developed during a single health care setting that may then transition throughout the care continuum. The seven standards are key components that described to maximize benefits and minimize the opposition.

The case management process consists of five parts: assessment, treatment planning, linking, advocacy, and monitoring. It is not a linear process and does not follow the order it is written up. There may be some back and forth and returning to certain points.

The fact that there are broad spectrums of services available within the Kaiser Permanente network makes it easier to coordinate patient care. For example the Northern California site has implemented programs that focus on five “imperatives of personal care”, which are: patients have to have a primary care doctor, they need to be able to see that physician, patients that call have a short telephone wait, patients should receive timely appointments and have a great care experience (Commonwealth fund June 2009). Care management definitely plays a crucial role in health care. When the patients needs are met and quality care is received the result is patient satisfaction and potentially cost saving for the organization. Patients not only have to deal with health issues, many experience challenges within their environment and certain limitations depending on socioeconomic status. Therefore , coordination of patient care is key to the success of any health care delivery system.

Case management is a continuous balancing act of judgment calls, making ethical choices, getting along with coworkers, and following legal protocol. It is the duty of the case manager to know how to develop a relationship with both clients and coworkers while still maintain their professionalism. The healthcare professional must always leave their personal opinions at home and provide the same quality of care to all their clients regardless if they have different views, religion, sexual orientations, or cultures. The case manager needs to ensure that the client’s concerns will be put first no matter what, and should also clarify that the as the professional he or she will do all that is necessary to provide the best quality of care to their client.

Termination of services provided by case management can occur for a large variety of reasons. The main goal of a case manager is to provide the client with all the resources available to meet the client’s needs. By the end of the action plan the client should be prepared and skilled enough to continue without

Today almost every major health care organization has a case management program managing and directing the use of health care services for their clients. Also, case management by payer organization is recognized as external case management (Jacob & Cherry, 2007). Hospitals recognized the need for the case management model in the mid-1980s to manage the lengths of stay of hospitalized patients and the treatment plans (Jacob & Cherry, 2007).

What I understand of case management is that it helps Social Workers in helping their clients, meaning social workers take actions to manage the various aspects of cases they are working on. Case management is also a shared process of assessment, planning, facilitation and advocacy for decisions and services to meet an individual’s need through communication and available resources. Case management examines the person’s physical, emotional, environmental state, and promotes quality and cost-effective outcomes. In addition, in Case management the worker helps to empower the clients to become self-sufficient. Moreover, Case management is structure into six principles

According to IC & RC, Case Management is defined as, “activities intended to bring services, agencies, resources, or people together within a planned framework of action toward the achievement of established goals. It may involve liaison activities and collateral contacts” (Herdman, John W., 6th Ed.). Case management is a concerted effort of various professionals in the human social services network that assess’, plans, implements, coordinates, monitors and evaluates options required to meet the client’s health and human service needs. It is characterized by advocacy, communication, resource management and promotes quality cost-effective intervention outcomes. The Case Management Process centers on the client and the client’s support system. It is holistic in its approach to the management of the client’s individual and specific situation and that of the client’s support system. It is adaptive both to the case manager’s practice setting and to the healthcare setting in which the client receives services. Case management is not a profession unto itself however; it is a cross-disciplinary and interdependent specialty practice within the health and human services profession. Everyone directly or indirectly involved in healthcare benefits when healthcare professionals and