The Benefits of Assigning Case Managers to Individuals with Diabetes

Managing diabetes needs continuum of care to improve the health of the population, reduce per capita costs of care and improve the experience of care. Continuum of care is defined as a care system that guides and tracks the clients through a myriad of health services at all levels, stages and intensity of care (HIMSS.com, 2015). The provisions of Title II-Subtitle E provide new options for long-term services and support. The provision of community first choice allows the lower income diabetes patients to have access to long-term healthcare at an affordable cost (Obamacarefacts.com, 2013). Empowered by HIT, nurses can find community resources, develop patient

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.

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

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.

Diabetes is a serious medical condition that can also be a risk factor for the development of many different diseases and conditions including dementia, heart disease, and CVA. Thus, effective management of diabetes is very important. Patient compliance can be difficult to achieve if the person affected with diabetes is not educated about the illness or treatment, has not fully accepted the diagnosis or its severity, will not change habits or believes that the prescribed treatment regime is too difficult or ineffective, has cultural beliefs conflicting with the treatment regime, experiences stressful events, lacks social support, or suffers from psychiatric issues unrelated to diabetes (Gerard, Griffin, & Fitzpatrick, 2010). As one may expect, adequate education programs are essential tools when dealing with diabetics. Solid education will provide the patient with information as well as teaching the necessary skills to manage the disorder. The primary focus of any diabetes education program must be to empower patients as a part of the multidisciplinary team. This team should be focused at integrating diabetes into the lives of the patients and this focus should be based on the decisions made by the patient, otherwise the treatment plan can be looked on as forced (Gerald et al., 2010). Every patient stricken with diabetes has the right to benefit from an education program of this type. First, basic education and facts should be administered directly following the diagnosis of

In this assignment I will discuss the effectiveness of health and social care practitioners and agencies working together to deliver the care pathway for one of the chosen physiological disorders. The disorder I have chosen to evaluate is diabetes type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes is a chronic illness that requires continuous medical care and patient self-management education to prevent acute complications and to reduce the risk of long-term complications[ ].

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).

Background: Uninsured patients with diabetes are at increased risk for poor outcomes and often have limited access to health and prescription services necessary to manage diabetes. The Cooper Rowan Clinic is a medical student-run, attending-supervised free clinic that offers primary care to the

As previously shared at the location where I am completing clinical practice nurses coordinate timely and appropriate medical care—but nothing more. Nevertheless, case managers should follow nursing standards and practice according to them. The nurse case manager enjoys autonomy and independence. They receive training and preparation to face their daily challenges and succeed. Recently, the company has developed and is promoting the use of a phone application to facilitate the billing process. The billing process is the method used by this company to show the case manager’s productivity. The productivity is reflected on how many activities each case manager performs for each individual referral or client. The activities vary; it could be from

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

* Case management consists of coordinating and organizing patient care in collaboration with the primary care practitioner.