CM credentials: What employers want
Directors of case management speak out
After hearing all the claims and counter-claims from certifying organizations about the benefits of having their case management credentials, it’s easy to become confused about what you really need to remain competitive in the job market.
Bearing that in mind, the editors of Hospital Case Management asked directors of case management with hiring responsibilities to tell us what they look for in applicants.
Sandra L. LaRusso, RN, MA, ARM, director of case management at Community Hospital of San Bernardino (CA), says she’s impressed when an applicant has taken the initiative to acquire a case management credential. "Most organizations don’t pay for you to become certified," she says. "That’s something you have to pay for on your own. So when I see a certification, that tells me that this person has individually taken responsibility to acquire some level of expertise that identifies them in an expert in their field. It shows commitment and initiative."
LaRusso adds that obtaining a credential has become more important than ever, given that many hospitals are now either requiring or "preferring" that case managers become certified. "Just from what I’ve looked at, it’s about 50-50 right now between preferred and required," she says. "But I think it’s very quickly going to move toward required."
Credentials are particularly important in specialized settings such as rehabilitation hospitals and mental health institutions, says Sandra McInnis, RN, CCM, CCS, outcomes management coordinator at Bay Medical Center in Panama City, FL.
Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta, prefers that case managers in its post-acute programs hold a master’s degree in vocational rehabilitation and a credential in rehabilitation counseling, says Jeanette Ray, CRC, CCM, LPC, director of case management at Shepherd. But for case managers working in intensive care or med/surg units, no credential is considered necessary. "If patients are coming in for medical reasons, I like on particular units to have nurses who do case management who have a knowledge of those specific diagnoses," Ray says. "Experience working with those types of patients is more important to me than having a certification in case management."
Credentials establish national standards
McInnis adds that more general credentials, such as the Certified Case Manager (CCM) administered by the Rolling Meadows, IL-based Commission for Case Manager Certification, help to define standards of practice for the profession. "I think the legal issues with that are significant," she says. "Because any time you have a credential that has established national standards, you know the minimum that is expected or required. I support national standards because that’s the only way to improve quality."
However, McInnis questions the need for case managers to pursue the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) credential, administered by the San Gabriel, CA-based Healthcare Quality Certification Board. "As a hospital-based RN, certified case manager, and a manager of case managers, I find that my quality piece is in a different department," she says. "Now, yes, I have to engage in the CQI process, but I think case management is a separate issue than quality. I think that to be a case manager, the CCM is much more weighty than a CPHQ."
LaRusso, meanwhile, is less concerned about which specific credential a case manager has. More important, she says, is whether the applicant has the experience to back up that credential. "I look at their resume and their work experience and determine whether that certification was just to get some more initials after their name," she says, "or whether they actually have experience in that area. For me, it needs to correlate to their work experience."
Ray agrees that experience means more to her than a credential when screening job applicants. "The experience of working with this [rehab] population is No. 1 for me," she says. "Because you can take someone who did discharge planning, who has a social worker background in an acute care setting, but has never worked with this type of patient, and it’s like starting from scratch. And as a case manager, one of the roles is to be a team leader. You can’t very well be a leader if you are still in a huge learning curve."
Ray adds that, although Shepherd Center prefers certification in case management, "that will not stop me from hiring someone if they’re eligible for that certification and just haven’t sat for the exam."
Both McInnis and LaRusso are concerned about the trend toward requiring that case managers hold a baccalaureate degree in order to achieve a credential. McInnis, who does not have a four-year degree, says that in many areas of the country, "people don’t have access to colleges [that offer nursing degrees], and those are some of the higher indigent populations. I think we shoot ourselves in the foot because the need for case management is so high and the resources are so decreased. If you limit it to degreed people, and not experienced people, then I think you do the patient the injustice."
She adds that if she had an opening for a case manager and was forced to choose between a master’s-level RN and a two-year AS-degreed CCM, RN, "I would take the CCM. Only because I know what to expect from them at least the minimum to expect."
[For more information, contact:
Sandra McInnis, RN, CCM, CCS, outcomes management coordinator, Bay Medical Center, 615 N. Bonita, Panama City, FL 32401. Telephone: (904) 747-6470.
Sandra L. LaRusso, RN, MA, ARM, director of case management, Community Hospital of San Bernardino, 1805 Medical Center Drive, San Bernardino, CA 92411. Telephone: (909) 887-6933, ext. 1536.
Jeanette Ray, CRC, CCM, LPC, director of case management at Shepherd Center, 2020 Peachtree Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. Telephone: (404) 350-7724.]
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