Case managers are beginning to get the recognition they deserve and National Case Management Week Oct. 12-18 is the time to celebrate all the contributions that case managers bring to the healthcare arena.
Like many hospitals around the country, Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, CA, has seen a steady increase in patients presenting to the ED with mental health problems. Officials attribute the problem to dwindling resources for mental health care and, in particular, the closing of an inpatient psychiatric unit in the region in 2009. Many of the patients who previously would have been stabilized in the inpatient unit are now showing up in the ED.
Care navigators meet with EmblemHealth members at primary care practices and coordinate all their non-clinical needs.
