Standards provide evaluation framework
CMSA standards are a good place to start
If your organization hasn't yet developed a case management skills checklist or evaluation tool, the Standards of Practice for Case Management developed by the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) in Little Rock, AR, is an excellent resource.
In addition to defining case management functions and goals, the document details standards of care and performance for case managers, making it an excellent tool for training and evaluation. (For more on case management assessment tools, see p. 57.)
Open forum planned in May
For example, under a section titled "Planning," the CMSA standards identify three skills case managers should demonstrate:
· ability to gather information necessary to formulate a plan;
· knowledge and understanding of the client's diagnosis, prognosis, care needs, and outcomes goals;
· understanding of cost-containment strategies.
At CMSA's upcoming annual conference, which is scheduled for May 13-16 in Reno, NV, CMSA will conduct an open forum for case managers to discuss the standards. "Our concern is that while the standards may have had a lot of lip service, they have not been as broadly distributed and actively used as we would like," says Deborah S. Smith, MN, RN, CM, CNAA, executive vice president of American Medical Systems, a case management training and evaluation firm in Los Angeles. Smith will help facilitate the open forum.
"We want to know how the standards are used in actual practice settings, and what advantages or disadvantages case managers have had in using and applying the standards," says the forum's other facilitator, Sandra L. Lowrey, BSN, CRRN, CCM, president of Consultants in Case Management Intervention in Francestown, NH.
"Our plan for the next year is to look at the need to revise and update the current standards, which were published in 1995," Lowrey says. "The forum is open to everyone who attends the conference. We hope case managers will share any challenges they've faced in applying the CMSA standards of practice."
For registration information on CMSA's annual conference, membership information, or a copy of CMSA's standards of practice, contact: CMSA, 8201 Cantrell, Suite 230, Little Rock, AR 72227-2448. Telephone: (501) 225-2229. Fax: (501) 221-9068. E-mail: [email protected]. World Wide Web site: www.cmsa.org.
(Editor's note: CMSA also has limited quantities of the book Job Descriptions for Case Managers. It includes job descriptions for case managers in a variety of practice settings that may help organizations developing case manager skills and competency checklist. The cost is $55. To request an order form, call CMSA at the number listed above.)
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