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By Mary Catherine
Dubois
Social Work Case Manager, Digestive
Disease
MUSC's Case Management
and Care Transitions Department team is
proud of providing its patient-oriented,
outcome-driven care to patients.
The team,
composed of 35 nurse case managers and
social work case managers, works 24
hours a day, seven days a week. The team
provides clinical assessments, care
coordination, patient education,
counseling, case monitoring and clinical
pathway management, discharge planning,
resource management and patient advocacy
support to all MUSC patients.
 MUSC's Case
Management and Care Transition
Department team
According to the
Commission for Case Management
Certification's website, in order "to
obtain optimum value for clients and
reimbursement sources, case managers
identify appropriate providers and
facilities across the continuum of
health care and human services while
ensuring that available resources are
timely, cost-effective, and efficient.
Consumers, who are our patients, gain an
advocate and emotional support.
Physicians and hospitals have complex
cases facilitated, and payers' costs are
reduced."
At MUSC, patients
are assigned a nurse case manager or a
social work case manager based on the
medical or social complexity of their
illness and needed care.
To celebrate Case
Management Week, the department will
feature a booth from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.,
Oct. 15 near the university hospital
cafeteria, and 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., Oct. 16
at Ashley River Tower.
According to
Florence Simmons, R.N., and nurse case
manager, MUSC's goal is to educate staff
as to the role of case management.
Everyone is invited to stop by the booth
and learn more about various skills and
talents case manager's use in providing
for a diverse patient population.
Many of the case
management and care transitions staff
will participate in case management
certification training next February to
become nationally certified case
managers.
Glenn Richmond,
interim department director, can't
emphasize the value of working with
certified case managers at MUSC. "Having
nationally certified case managers will
validate our expertise as case managers;
prove that we know what to do in
providing case management services to
our patients, especially those with many
complex medical issues; and ensure we
can provide the right services to the
right patients across the health care
continuum of care."
MUSC case
managers were interviewed on their views
of their roles:
How do
you see your role in the new Medicare
guidelines that impose financial
consequences for readmissions?
"I monitor length
of stay and address barriers to
discharge; by identifying trends now, I
can develop solutions for future
improvements to these issues."
—Grace
Galloway, R.N., nurse case manager,
Adult Medical & Surgical Oncology
What
would surprise people most about what
you do as a case manager?
"Because some
young patients have multiple
hospitalizations with their chronic
illness, I often follow them from birth
through high school, watching the child
and family unit grow despite their
health challenges."
—Robin Hollinger, R.N., nurse
case manager, Pediatric Cardiology,
Cardiothoracic Surgery
What is
the most rewarding part of your job?
"When a family
says "thank you," I know I have made a
difference in their lives."
—Jessica
Winkler-Metz, social work case manager,
Pediatric Orthopedics, Urology, Oral
Maxillary, Neurology, Plastics, and ENT
You
follow complex patients with high
readmission rates, both when they are
in the hospital and at home, to
decrease readmissions. What are some
of the ways you do this?
"I identify the
psychosocial factors involved in the
patient's illness and care, then offer
the patient the resources to find
assistance, or make those contacts
myself if the patient or family is not
able. The poor economy has negatively
impacted many community resources with
many unable to provide what they did a
few years ago. This deficit in community
resources, like housing and affordable
outpatient medical care, negatively
affects our ability to discharge
patients."
—Renee Bligen,
continuum social work case manager,
Digestive Disease Center
You are
with HealthLinks, an MUSC-initiated
program that utilizes student
volunteers to assist patients with
accessing resources in their local
communities. Tell us more.
"I enjoy showing
students that health is influenced not
only by medical intervention but also a
range of social, economic and
environmental factors — the crux of
holistic case management. Students have
the opportunity to impact these factors
in MUSC's population. As future health
care providers, I hope the experience
will influence the way they care for
their patients."
—Chrysta
Schaaf, social work case manager,
HealthLinks
Friday, Oct.
12, 2012
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