Don’t shell out good money for bad case management education
Use these tips to spend your continuing education dollars wisely
You’ve seen the ads: Case manager wanted for health maintenance organization. Bachelor of science in nursing or master’s in social work required. Certified case manager (CCM) preferred. Minimum two years clinical experience. Managed care or other insurance experience a plus.
The jobs are out there, but employers are increasingly looking for case managers who are both clinically sound and have case management experience. Even for working case managers, continuing education is a must for maintaining certification and for advancement. (For more on what employers are seeking, see Case Management Advisor, November 1997, salary survey supplement.)
Unfortunately, not all educational opportunities are created equal. CMA asked case management and education experts to provide a set of selection criteria to help you find the choices best suited to your needs.
"I think that too often, employers of case managers, as well as case managers themselves, have expectations that are far higher than many courses can provide, especially in terms of practical application," says Sandra L. Lowery, BSN, CRRN, CCM, president of Consultants in Case Management Intervention in Francestown, NH.
First, it’s important to realize that there are several levels of education and training available for case managers, and each serves a different purpose, Lowery says. Those levels include:
• academic degrees offered by accredited universities and colleges;
• national training programs and seminars offered by associations and private training and consulting groups;
• specific on-site training developed to meet specific needs of an organization;
• internal orientation and training offered by an organization for new hires.
"Case managers must look at whether the objectives of the educational opportunity offered are really appropriate in terms of the amount of time and effort required for that program," Lowery says. "In recent years, there has been an influx of educational programs in case management offered by individuals who may or may not be well known in the field. This really puts the responsibility for selecting credible and appropriate programs on the potential recipient."
"Don’t be afraid to carefully screen the credentials of the educator," adds Tina Kowlsen, RN, BS, CCM, CDMS, vice president of Case Management Choices in Jacksonville, FL. "If a course is offered by a name that you don’t recognize, it’s your responsibility to check them out."
Clearly defined needs
Case managers must be clear about their needs and objectives before deciding what kinds of educational opportunities to explore. "For case managers new to the field or professionals wanting to enter the field, it is more important to have an academically based program that offers a basic foundation in case management theory and process," says Rita Wik, PhD, LCSW, associate professor for the Master of Professional Studies in Care Management Program at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL. (For a list of institutions and training companies that offer case management courses, see pp. 5-6.)
"Employers tell us that there is a difference between master’s-prepared case managers and other case managers in terms of their ability to think broadly and explore alternatives," says Claire Manfredi, EdD, RN, professor and director of the graduate nursing program at Villanova (PA) College of Nursing.
The board of the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) in Little Rock, AR, recently approved a draft statement from its newly formed education committee that lists 10 points case managers can employ to evaluate case management seminars and workshops. "The selection criteria empower case managers to make decisions rather than requiring CMSA to police the many offerings that now exist," says Donna D. Ignatavicius, MS, RNC, president of DI Associates in Hughesville, MD, and chairwoman of the CMSA education committee. " The list gives guidelines for speaker qualification, content of program, and educational objectives." The selection criteria are expected to be available in February.
A need for care curriculum
What do our experts recommend you look for before selecting a case management education or training program? Criteria include:
• Content should be based on national standards of practice.
• Content should relate case management to other health care reform strategies.
"Certainly, there must be thorough discussion on health care financing, negotiation, and conflict management," Manfredi says.
• Format should include both lecture and internship, workshop-style or hands-on learning.
"Our graduates must complete a role practicum with a working case manager," says Manfredi. "These role praciticums take place in a variety of settings, including hospitals, insurance companies, managed care organizations, and disability companies."
"For example, if you have no experience in face-to-face interviewing of clients, you can’t learn the skills required by a lecture alone," notes Cheryl M. Whitman, MSN, CMC, director of the Case Management Institute of Connecticut Community Care in Bristol. "You need to have role playing and other types of interaction as part of your educational plan."
• Content should include strong section on case management process.
"I would like to see all the processes of case or care management covered," says Ann S. Reban, MSN, RN-C, CMC, associate director of the Texas Institute for Research and Education on Aging and an adjunct professor in the department of applied gerontology at the University of North Texas in Denton. Reban is part of a delegation that is compiling a directory of education programs for long-term case management for the National Institute for Community Based Long Term Care.
• Programs should offer national reference materials, resource lists, and bibliographies for self-study.
"It’s important that you walk away with a tool you can use," Kowlsen says.
• Faculty and other presenters should be tied to clinical settings.
"Almost all of the faculty in the graduate department have dual roles. They teach, but they also have private practices in the field," Wik says.
• Programs and presenters should be accredited and/or approved providers of continuing education credits.
"You should be able to walk away with continuing education units. However, make sure you understand the difference between certification and credits toward certification," notes Kowlsen.
"A certificate program’ or a certificate of completion’ is not a certification. You must take and pass a certification exam given by a nationally recognized certification commission to become certified. Remember, there is no course that can truthfully state that at the end of the course you will be a certified case manager."
CMSA’s education committee now plans to tackle the development of criteria for a core curriculum for case management. "At this time, there is simply no central Bible such as exists for other specialties," says Ignatavicius. "Many other specialty practices, such as critical care nurses, have developed core curriculums that serve as the standard for people desiring continuing education in the specialty."
"We hope to develop a core curriculum that helps individuals looking at continuing education programs measure how various programs stack up. We also hope schools use the core curriculum to help shape their graduate programs." (For more on one college program that has attempted to develop an undergraduate core curriculum for case management, see story, p. 6.)
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