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Competing Interests: The author reports no conflicts of interest.

Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, in Boston, Massachusetts, implemented an intensive telehealth case management intervention combined with emergency financial assistance for 270 homeless-experienced people living with HIV (PLWH) to reduce COVID-19 transmission and promote HIV care retention during Boston's first pandemic peak (March 16-May 31, 2020). Our telehealth model successfully maintained prepandemic case management and primary care contact levels, highlighting the importance of such programs in supporting the care engagement of homeless-experienced PLWH and addressing the dual COVID-19 and HIV epidemics.

Aims: Since April 2020, the new Japanese mental health system has used the Intensive Case Management Screening Sheet (ICMSS) to identify patients' needs for case management services. This study aimed to examine the association between ICMSS score and service intensity and compare the magnitude of association between ICMSS score and service intensity with other scales., Methods: We recruited patients who received case management services from a staff member in a psychiatric outpatient service, psychiatric day-care program, or outreach team based at one psychiatric hospital. Case management service needs and functioning were assessed using ICMSS, Global Assessment Functioning (GAF), and Personal and Social Performance (PSP). The case manager also documented all services received by the participant for 2 months. The association between each scale and service duration was examined. Furthermore, the magnitude of the association between each scale and service intensity was compared., Results: Overall, 138 participants were included in the analysis. The most common diagnosis was schizophrenia. Mean total service duration was weakly but significantly correlated with ICMSS (Spearman's ρ = 0.320), GAF (ρ = -0.198), and PSP (ρ = -0.275) scores. Poisson's regression models and postestimation testing showed that the coefficient for ICMSS score (B = 0.144; 95% CI = 0.141, 0.148) was significantly larger than the coefficients for GAF (B = -0.017, 95% CI = -0.017, -0.016, χ 2  = 15.70, P < 0.001) and PSP (B=-0.016, 95% CI = -0.017, -0.016, χ 2  = 14.64, P < 0.001) scores., Conclusion: ICMSS may provide preliminary information on case management service needs, but the level of service should be based on the individual needs of each patient and shared decision-making between the patient and case manager., (© 2020 The Authors. Neuropsychopharmacology Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of the Japanese Society of NeuropsychoPharmacology.)

Introduction: The Support. Empower. Learn. Parenting Health Initiative (SELPHI) provides expectant and parenting youth ages 16-24 in Philadelphia with supports to improve educational, social, and economic outcomes to shape their health and the health of their children. Phone, text, video-based, and social media communication technology is built in to SELPHI's program design to facilitate case management and connect clients to a broad referral network. Given the novelty of using information and communication technology (ICT) in case management, the reported lessons learned seek to give providers a specific and nuanced picture of ICT in case management., Methods: In its initial 6-month implementation period, SELPHI's five case managers, called Navigators, served 59 clients. Data from feedback surveys and case records were collected from clients and Navigators. Data included client demographic characteristics, needs assessment, and contact records to inform continuous quality improvement (CQI)., Results: ICT's benefits included having multiple ways to connect to difficult-to-reach clients, the ability to be more responsive to clients, and the flexibility to address scheduling and transportation barriers. ICT's challenges are related to Navigators' boundary setting, limitations on rapport building, and data security considerations. CQI data are presented to illustrate the lessons learned. Text messages were the most prevalent ICT; phone calls were most successful in engaging clients. Clients' ICT preferences differed by purpose of communication., Discussion: Findings suggest that programs should understand the nuances of client contact preferences. To maximize the benefits of ICT, programs must develop or adapt protocols based on preference and purpose of communication.

Studies have shown that registered nurses are inadequately prepared to care for patients requiring hospice and palliative care. Reasons include inadequate curriculum, along with a lack of structured education related to hospice/palliative care and symptom management, which includes inadequate education on delivering home-based hospice/palliative case management. Challenges at the Southwestern Hospice Organization are consistent with industry standards, evidenced by a high level of afterhours triage phone calls related to ineffective case management setup and delivery upon patient admission to hospice service. Many of these triage inquires could be prevented with improved registered nurse case management education and subsequent execution. Through analyzing Southwestern Hospice Organization afterhours triage phone data, a deficiency in effective patient case management setup and delivery was defined. Best practices in hospice/palliative case management were then identified, and a quality improvement plan in the form of a nurse driven, hands-on, home hospice/palliative case management simulation was generated. Quality improvement for patient case management at the Southwestern Hospice Organization was the end goal.

The methodological challenges to effectiveness evaluation of complex interventions has been widely discussed. Bottom-up case management for frail older person was implemented in Belgium, and indeed, it was evaluated as a complex intervention. This paper presents the methodological approach we developed to respond to four main methodological challenges regarding the evaluation of case management: (1) the standardization of the interventions, (2) stratification of the frail older population that was used to test various modalities of case management with different risks groups, (3) the building of a control group, and (4) the use of multiple outcomes in evaluating case management. To address these challenges, we developed a mixed-methods approach that (1) used multiple embedded case studies to classify case management types according to their characteristics and implementation conditions; and (2) compared subgroups of beneficiaries with specific needs (defined by Principal Component Analysis prior to cluster analysis) and a control group receiving 'usual care', to evaluate the effectiveness of case management. The beneficiaries' subgroups were matched using propensity scores and compared using generalized pairwise comparison and the hurdle model with the control group. Our results suggest that the impact of case management on patient health and the services used varies according to specific needs and categories of case management. However, these equivocal results question our methodological approach. We suggest to reconsider the evaluation approach by moving away from a viewing case management as an intervention. Rather, it should be considered as a process of interconnected actions taking place within a complex system., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Objective: to discuss the benefits of using high-risk prenatal case management., Method: a qualitative, convergent care study with six high-risk pregnant women, performed in a municipality in the south of Brazil. Data were produced by case management from April to August of 2017 through observation-participant. Analysis followed the processes of Convergent Care Research: apprehension, synthesis, theorization and transfer., Results: case management identified important elements in the care of pregnant women, which denoted a greater complexity to the cases; was shown as a relevant space for nurses to act, because it is an intervention that requires knowledge and specific skills., Final Considerations: case management provides differentiated management in complex cases, facilitates the flow between health services, concretizing the comprehensiveness and equity of the care. It was found, in the convergence between research and care, that participants were benefited by case management.

Care management programs have become more widely adopted as health systems try to improve the coordination and integration of services across the continuum of care, especially for frail older adults. Several models of care suggest the inclusion of registered nurses (RNs) and social workers to assist in these activities. In a 2018 national survey of 410 clinicians in 363 primary care and geriatrics practices caring for frail older adults, we found that nearly 40 percent of practices had no social workers or RNs. However, when both types of providers did work in a practice, social workers were more likely than RNs to be reported to participate in social needs assessment and RNs more likely than social workers to participate in care coordination. Physicians' involvement in social needs assessment and care coordination declined significantly when social workers, RNs, or both were employed in the practice.

Background: Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) is recommended in the Sahel region of Africa for children under 5 years of age, for up to 4 months of the year. It may be appropriate to include older children, and to provide protection for more than 4 months. We evaluated the effectiveness of SMC using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine given over 5 months to children under 10 years of age in Saraya district in south-east Senegal in 2011., Methods and Findings: Twenty-four villages, including 2,301 children aged 3-59 months and 2,245 aged 5-9 years, were randomised to receive SMC with community case management (CCM) (SMC villages) or CCM alone (control villages). In all villages, community health workers (CHWs) were trained to treat malaria cases with artemisinin combination therapy after testing with a rapid diagnostic test (RDT). In SMC villages, CHWs administered SMC to children aged 3 months to 9 years once a month for 5 months. The study was conducted from 27 July to 31 December 2011. The primary outcome was malaria (fever or history of fever with a positive RDT). The prevalence of anaemia and parasitaemia was measured in a survey at the end of the transmission season. Molecular markers associated with resistance to SMC drugs were analysed in samples from incident malaria cases and from children with parasitaemia in the survey. SMC was well tolerated with no serious adverse reactions. There were 1,472 RDT-confirmed malaria cases in the control villages and 270 in the SMC villages. Among children under 5 years of age, the rate difference was 110.8/1,000/month (95% CI 64.7, 156.8; p < 0.001) and among children 5-9 years of age, 101.3/1,000/month (95% CI 66.7, 136.0; p < 0.001). The mean haemoglobin concentration at the end of the transmission season was higher in SMC than control villages, by 6.5 g/l (95% CI 2.0, 11; p = 0.007) among children under 5 years of age, and by 5.2 g/l (95% CI 0.4, 9.9; p = 0.035) among children 5-9 years of age. The prevalence of parasitaemia was 18% in children under 5 years of age and 25% in children 5-9 years of age in the control villages, and 5.7% and 5.8%, respectively, in these 2 age groups in the SMC villages, with prevalence differences of 12.5% (95% CI 6.8%, 18.2%; p < 0.001) in children under 5 years of age and 19.3% (95% CI 8.3%, 30.2%; p < 0.001) in children 5-9 years of age. The pfdhps-540E mutation associated with clinical resistance to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine was found in 0.8% of samples from malaria cases but not in the final survey. Twelve children died in the control group and 14 in the SMC group, a rate difference of 0.096/1,000 child-months (95% CI 0.99, 1.18; p = 0.895). Limitations of this study include that we were not able to obtain blood smears for microscopy for all suspected malaria cases, such that we had to rely on RDTs for confirmation, which may have included false positives., Conclusions: In this study SMC for children under 10 years of age given over 5 months was feasible, well tolerated, and effective in preventing malaria episodes, and reduced the prevalence of parasitaemia and anaemia. SMC with CCM achieved high coverage and ensured children with malaria were promptly treated with artemether-lumefantrine., Trial Registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01449045., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Purpose of Review: Heart failure (HF) is the first cause of hospitalization in the elderly in Western countries, generating tremendous healthcare costs. Despite the spread of multidisciplinary post-discharge programs, readmission rates have remained unchanged over time. We review the recent developments in this setting., Recent Findings: Recent data plead for global reorganization of HF care, specifically targeting patients at high risk for further readmission, as well as a stronger involvement of primary care providers (PCP) in patients' care plan. Besides, tools, devices, and new interdisciplinary expertise have emerged to support and be integrated into those programs; they have been greeted with great enthusiasm, but their routine applicability remains to be determined. HF programs in 2018 should focus on pragmatic assessments of patients that will benefit the most from the multidisciplinary care; delegating the management of low-risk patients to trained PCP and empowering the patient himself, using the newly available tools as needed.

Background: U.S. health systems, incentivized by financial penalties, are designing programs such as case management to reduce service utilization among high-cost, high-need populations. The major challenge is identifying patients for whom targeted programs are most effective for achieving desired outcomes., Objective: To evaluate a health system's outpatient complex case management (OPCM) for Medicare beneficiaries for patients overall and for high-risk patients using system-tailored taxonomy, and examine whether OPCM lowers service utilization and healthcare costs., Design: Retrospective case-control study using Medicare data collected between 2012 and 2016 for Ochsner Health System., Participants: Super-utilizers defined as Medicare patients with at least two hospital/ED encounters within 180 days of the index date including the index event., Intervention: Outpatient complex case management., Main Measures: Propensity score-adjusted multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted for primary outcomes (90-day hospital readmission; 90-day ED re-visit). A difference-in-difference analysis was conducted to examine changes in per membership per month (PMPM) costs based on OPCM exposure., Key Results: Among 18,882 patients, 1197 (6.3%) were identified as "high-risk" and 470 (2.5%) were OPCM participants with median enrollment of 49 days. High-risk OPCM cases compared to high-risk controls had lower odds of 90-day hospital readmissions (0.81 [0.40-1.61], non-significant) and lower odds of 90-day ED re-visits (0.50 [0.32-0.79]). Non-high-risk OPCM cases compared to non-high-risk controls had lower odds of 90-day hospital readmissions (0.20 [0.11-0.36]) and 90-day ED re-visits (0.66 [0.47-0.94]). Among OPCM cases, high-risk patients compared to non-high-risk patients had greater odds of 90-day hospital readmissions (4.44 [1.87-10.54]); however, there was no difference in 90-day ED re-visits (0.99 [0.58-1.68]). Overall, OPCM cases had lower total cost of care compared to controls (PMPM mean [SD]: - $1037.71 [188.18])., Conclusions: Use of risk stratification taxonomy for super-utilizers can identify patients most likely to benefit from case management. Future studies must further examine which OPCM components drive improvements in select outcome for specific populations.

Background: Malaria is a significant burden to health systems and is responsible for a large proportion of outpatient cases at health facilities in endemic regions. The scale-up of community management of malaria and reactive case detection likely affect both malaria cases and outpatient attendance at health facilities. Using health management information data from 2012 to 2013 this article examines health trends before and after the training of volunteer community health workers to test and treat malaria cases in Southern Province, Zambia., Results: An estimated 50% increase in monthly reported malaria infections was found when community health workers were involved with malaria testing and treating in the community (incidence rate ratio 1.52, p < 0.001). Furthermore, an estimated 6% decrease in outpatient attendance at the health facility was found when community health workers were involved with malaria testing and treating in the community., Conclusions: These results suggest a large public health benefit to both community case management of malaria and reactive case detection. First, the capacity of the malaria surveillance system to identify malaria infections was increased by nearly one-third. Second, the outpatient attendance at health facilities was modestly decreased. Expanding the capacity of the malaria surveillance programme through systems such as community case management and reactive case detection is an important step toward malaria elimination.

Background: There is evidence to suggest that frontline community health workers in Malawi are under-referring children to higher-level facilities. Integrating a digitized version of paper-based methods of Community Case Management (CCM) could strengthen delivery, increasing urgent referral rates and preventing unnecessary re-consultations and hospital admissions. This trial aims to evaluate the added value of the Supporting LIFE electronic Community Case Management Application (SL eCCM App) compared to paper-based CCM on urgent referral, re-consultation and hospitalization rates, in two districts in Northern Malawi., Methods/design: This is a pragmatic, stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial assessing the added value of the SL eCCM App on urgent referral, re-consultation and hospitalization rates of children aged 2 months and older to up to 5 years, within 7 days of the index visit. One hundred and two health surveillance assistants (HSAs) were stratified into six clusters based on geographical location, and clusters randomized to the timing of crossover to the intervention using simple, computer-generated randomization. Training workshops were conducted prior to the control (paper-CCM) and intervention (paper-CCM + SL eCCM App) in assigned clusters. Neither participants nor study personnel were blinded to allocation. Outcome measures were determined by abstraction of clinical data from patient records 2 weeks after recruitment. A nested qualitative study explored perceptions of adherence to urgent referral recommendations and a cost evaluation determined the financial and time-related costs to caregivers of subsequent health care utilization. The trial was conducted between July 2016 and February 2017., Discussion: This is the first large-scale trial evaluating the value of adding a mobile application of CCM to the assessment of children aged under 5 years. The trial will generate evidence on the potential use of mobile health for CCM in Malawi, and more widely in other low- and middle-income countries., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT02763345 . Registered on 3 May 2016.

This article describes the rationale, considerations, and choices made in developing a complex intervention evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of community-based case management for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in a Danish setting. Inspired by the existing research methods for designing complex interventions, the intervention was developed using mixed methods entailing systematic review of available literature, interviews with key stakeholders, and discussions in a specialist-comprised project group. The rigorous process helped develop an intervention that properly accounted for both available evidence and context of the setting. We encourage researchers to provide a transparent reporting of the process behind intervention development.

Objectives: To examine the effects of a 6-month nurse case manager (NCM) intervention compared to standard care (SC) on glycemic control and diabetes distress in a Canadian tertiary-care setting., Methods: We recruited 140 adults with type 2 diabetes and glycated hemoglobin (A1C) levels >8% (64 mmol/mol) from 2 tertiary care facilities and randomized them to: 1) a 6-month NCM intervention in addition to SC or 2) SC by the primary endocrinologists. Assessments were conducted at baseline and at 6 months. Primary outcomes included A1C levels and diabetes distress scores (DDS). Secondary outcomes included body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes-related behaviour measures, depressive symptoms, self-motivation and perception of support., Results: At the 6-month follow up, the NCM group experienced larger reductions in A1C levels of -0.73% compared to the SC group (p=0.027; n=134). The NCM group also showed an additional reduction of -0.40 (26% reduction) in DDS compared to those in the SC group (p=0.001; n=134). The NCM group had lower blood pressure, ate more fruit and vegetables, exercised more, checked their feet more frequently, were more motivated, were less depressed and perceived more support. There were no changes and no group differences in terms of body mass index, medication compliance or frequency of testing., Conclusions: Compared to SC, NCM intervention was more effective in improving glycemic control and reducing diabetes distress. It is, therefore, a viable adjunct to standard diabetes care in the tertiary care setting, particularly for patients at high risk and with poor control., (Copyright © 2017 Diabetes Canada. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Frequent emergency department (ED) users account for a disproportionately high number of ED visits. Studies on case management (CM) interventions to reduce frequent ED use have shown mixed results, and few studies have been conducted within a universal health coverage system., Objective: To determine whether a CM intervention-compared to standard emergency care-reduces ED attendance., Design: Randomized controlled trial., Participants: Two hundred fifty frequent ED users (5 or more visits in the prior 12 months) who visited a public urban ED at the Lausanne University Hospital between May 2012 and July 2013 were allocated to either an intervention (n = 125) or control (n = 125) group, and monitored for 12 months., Interventions: An individualized CM intervention consisting of concrete assistance in obtaining income entitlements, referral to primary or specialty medical care, access to mental health care or substance abuse treatment, and counseling on at-risk behaviors and health care utilization (in addition to standard care) at baseline and 1, 3, and 5 months., Main Measures: We used a generalized linear model for count data (negative binomial distribution) to compare the number of ED visits during the 12-month follow-up between CM and usual care, from an intention-to-treat perspective., Key Results: At 12 months, there were 2.71 (±0.23) ED visits in the intervention group versus 3.35 (±0.32) visits among controls (ratio = 0.81, 95 % CI = 0.63; 1.02). In the multivariate model, the effect of the CM intervention on the number of ED visits approached statistical significance (b = -0.219, p = 0.075). The presence of poor social determinants of health was a significant predictor of ED use in the multivariate model (b = 0.280, p = 0.048)., Conclusions: CM may reduce ED use by frequent users through an improved orientation to the health care system. Poor social determinants of health significantly increase use of the ED by frequent users.

Background: Diarrhea remains to be a main cause of childhood mortality. Diarrhea case management indicators reflect the effectiveness of child survival interventions. We aimed to assess time trends and country-wise changes in diarrhea case management indicators among under-5 children in low-and-middle-income countries., Methods: We analyzed aggregate data from Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys done from 1986 to 2012 in low-and-middle-income countries. Two-week prevalence rates of diarrhea, caregiver's care seeking behavior and three case management indicators were analyzed. We assessed overall time trends across the countries using panel data analyses and country-level changes between two sequential surveys., Results: Overall, yearly increase in case management indicators ranged from 1 · 3 to 2 · 5%. In the year 2012, <50% of the children were given correct treatment (received oral rehydration and increased fluids) for diarrhea. Annually, an estimated 300 to 350 million children were not given oral rehydration solutions, or recommended home fluids or 'increased fluids' and 304 million children not taken to a healthcare provider during an episode of diarrhea. Overall, care seeking for diarrhea, increased from pre-2000 to post-2000, i.e. from 35 to 45%; oral rehydration rates increased by about 7% but the rate of 'increased fluids' decreased by 14%. Country-level trends showed that care seeking had decreased in 15 countries but increased in 33 countries. Care seeking from a healthcare provider increased by ≥10% in about 23 countries. Oral rehydration rates had increased by ≥10% in 15 countries and in 30 countries oral rehydration rates increased by <10%., Conclusions: Very limited progress has been made in the case management of childhood diarrhea. A better understanding of caregiver's care seeking behavior and health care provider's case management practices is needed to improve diarrhea case management in low- and-middle-income countries.

Hospital leadership and staff need to look at new ways of delivering care to succeed in the rapidly changing healthcare marketplace as CMS and commercial payers move toward basing reimbursement on quality. Pay-for-performance initiatives are here to stay even if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act, experts predict. As hospitals assume risk for patient outcomes for as long as 90 days after discharge, case managers have to identify at-risk patients and think about their care on a long-term basis. Case management leadership needs to collect and report data on the hospital's performance on quality measures, then develop and carry out process improvement projects. Case managers should reassess their relationships with post-acute providers, and track quality metrics and costs to ensure they are providing efficient care.

As reimbursement tightens and payers issue ever-changing rules, it’s essential for hospital case managers to be involved in the revenue cycle by managing patients on admission, or even before they arrive, and following them through their hospital stay, ensuring that payer requirements are met so the hospital can get appropriate reimbursement. • Case management directors should meet regularly with representatives of the financial side of the hospital to discuss reimbursement issues and review the portion of insurance contracts that relate to the responsibilities of case managers. • Case managers should cover all access points of the hospital to prevent denials before they occur by ensuring patients meet inpatient criteria and are place in the right status. • Case managers should review every patient every day to make sure the days of hospitalization are authorized, that appeals are conducted concurrently, and that the discharge plan continues to meet the patient’s needs. • Hospitals need to provide continuous education to make sure that case managers understand the changing payer rules and regulations to know what each payer requires, and how and when to appeal.

Objectives: This study sought to characterize differences between pregnant adolescents and adults in the types of problems addressed by case managers, and to assess subsequent differences in the types of interventions used with both groups., Methods: Data stem from 3947 client encounters, provided by 223 case managers in 92 Medicaid-reimbursed prenatal case management programs; the clients were confirmed to be either adolescents (<20 years of age) or adults. Case managers provided information on each client encounter that occurred during 10 workdays over a 20 workday period using the Case Management Intervention Record , a data collection tool. The Chi square test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the types and number of problems, the types of intervention received, and the mean number of intervention minutes between adolescents and adults., Results: Adolescents experienced an average of 3.9 problems whereas adults experienced an average of 3.2 problems (p < 0.001). Compared to adults, adolescents were significantly more likely to experience problems in the areas of pregnancy health, family, education/job, transportation, and housing. With respect to breadth of interventions, adolescent clients were significantly more likely to receive support, clinical acts, and to be given tangible items compared to adult clients. On average, case managers spent significantly more time per encounter with adolescents than with adults overall (mean 56.6 vs. 50.3 min), and on educating, assessing, coaching, and monitoring., Conclusion: Age related differences have both programmatic and provider implications. The intervention typology can be used to evaluate PCM programs serving high risk population.

Over the past decade, Medicare has tested care coordination programs in an effort to achieve the triple aim of improving the patient experience, improving population health, and lowering costs. Although savings from this promising concept have not materialized, private payers are starting to offer blended payments to primary care. From these demonstrations, we propose 5 lessons for practices implementing care coordination: (1) minimize expenses by sharing resources and avoiding cost ineffective interventions; (2) concentrate on high utilizers; (3) foster relationships with both providers and patients; (4) track patients across the medical neighborhood in real time; and (5) extend rather than a duplicate the efforts of primary care practices., (© Copyright 2015 by the American Board of Family Medicine.)

The role of the outreach diabetes case manager in New Brunswick, Canada, was first developed in the Moncton Area of Horizon Health Network in response to a physician-identified gap between patients' diagnoses of diabetes and their attendance at the local diabetes education centre. This model of collaborative interprofessional practice increases support for primary care providers and people living with diabetes in that they are being provided the services of certified diabetes educators who can address knowledge gaps with respect to evidence-based guidelines and best practice, promote advancement of diabetes and chronic-disease management therapies and support adherence to treatment plans and self-management practices. This report chronicles a review of the implementation, expansion and evaluation of the outreach diabetes case manager model in the province of New Brunswick, Canada, along with the rationale for development of the role for registered nurses in other jurisdictions., (Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: This article explores Life Care Planning and the models of the provision of rehabilitation, case management and care for people with brain-injury in the context of the health and social care systems in the UK., Background: Life Care Planning for individuals with brain injury is not generally a term recognised or understood in the UK. The authors have worked in the field of rehabilitation, case management and care with this client group for many years and integrated their knowledge of the systems associated with Life Care Planning in the UK., Purpose: The article explains the process of assessment and Life Care Planning for individuals with brain injury in the UK. Case management, rehabilitation and care are described, highlighting the positive and negative influences that can affect the provision of these services. Research evidence is given of potential factors that can predict needs for brain-injured clients and their families in a Life Care Plan., Conclusion: In the UK, Life Care Planning is only undertaken by Care Experts in a one-off assessment for the litigation process for individuals claiming compensation; and, by those acting as Case Managers with a specialism in brain injury, who review or provide clinical work with clients on a long-term basis.

Objective: To determine factors associated with case management (CM) service use in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), using a published model for service use., Design: A retrospective cohort, with nested case-control design. Correlational and logistic regression analyses of questionnaires from a longitudinal community data base., Study Sample: Questionnaires of 203 users of CM services and 273 non-users, complete for all outcome and predictor variables. Individuals with TBI, 15 years of age and older. Out of a dataset of 1,960 questionnaires, 476 met the inclusion criteria., Methodology: Eight predictor variables and one outcome variable (use or non-use of the service). Predictor variables considered the framework of the Behaviour Model of Health Service Use (BMHSU); specifically, pre-disposing, need and enabling factor groups as these relate to health service use and access., Results: Analyses revealed significant differences between users and non-users of CM services. In particular, users were significantly younger than non-users as the older the person the less likely to use the service. Also, users had less education and more severe activity limitations and lower community integration. Persons living alone are less likely to use case management. Funding groups also significantly impact users., Conclusions: This study advances an empirical understanding of equity of access to health services usage in the practice of CM for persons living with TBI as a fairly new area of research, and considers direct relevance to Life Care Planning (LCP). Many life care planers are CM and the genesis of LCP is CM. The findings relate to health service use and access, rather than health outcomes. These findings may assist with development of a modified model for prediction of use to advance future cost of care predictions.

Background: The German Federal Joint Committee (the highest decision-making body of physicians and health insurance funds in Germany) has established minimum caseload requirements with the goal of improving patient care. Such requirements have been in place for five types of surgical procedure since 2004 and were introduced for total knee endoprosthesis surgery in 2006 and for the care of low-birth-weight neonates (weighing less than 1250 g) in 2010., Method: We analyzed data from German nationwide DRG statistics (DRG = diagnosis-related groups) for the years 2005-2011. The procedures that were performed were identified on the basis of their operation and procedure codes, and the low-birth-weight neonates on the basis of their birth weight and age. The treating facilities were distinguished from one another by their institutional identifying numbers, which were contained in the DRG database., Results: In 2011, there were 172 838 hospitalizations to which minimum caseload requirements were applicable. 4.5% of these took place in institutions that did not meet the minimum requirement for the procedure in question. The percentage of institutions that did not meet the minimum caseload requirement for complex pancreatic surgery fell significantly from 64.6% in 2006 to 48.7% in 2011, and the percentage of pancreatic surgery cases treated in such institutions fell over the same period from 19.0% to 11.4%. A significant reduction in the number of institutions treating low-birth-weight neonates was already evident before minimum caseload requirements were introduced. For all other types of procedure subject to minimum caseload requirements, there has been no significant change either in the percentage of institutions meeting the requirements or in the percentage of cases treated in such institutions., Conclusion: After taking account of the potential bias due to the identification of institutions by their institutional identifying numbers, we found no discernible effect of minimum caseload requirements on care structures over the seven-year period of observation, with the possible exception of a mild effect on pancreatic procedures.

Background: Legally mandated minimum hospital caseload requirements for certain invasive procedures, including pancreatectomy, esophagectomy, and some types of organ transplantation, have been in effect in Germany since 2004. The goal of such requirements is to improve patient care by ensuring that patients undergo certain procedures only in hospitals that have met the corresponding minimum caseload requirement. We used the case numbers published in legally mandated hospital quality control reports to determine whether the hospitals actually met the stipulated requirements., Method: We performed a secondary analysis of data supplied by hospitals in their quality control reports for the years 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 with respect to six procedures that have a minimum caseload requirement: complex interventions on the esophagus and pancreas, total knee replacement, and hepatic, renal, and stem-cell transplantation., Results: The total case numbers for these six different procedures rose from 22 064 (0.1% of all procedures) in 2004 to 170 801 (0.9% of all procedures) in 2010. From 2006 onward, procedures to which minimum caseload requirements apply have been carried out in half of all hospitals studied. These procedures account for 0.9% of all inpatient cases in Germany. The percentage of hospitals that continue to perform certain procedures despite not having met the minimum caseload requirement ranged from 5% to 45%, depending on the type of procedure, and the percentage of cases carried out in such hospitals ranged from 1% to 15%. These values remained nearly constant for each of the six minimum caseload requirements over the 4 reporting years for which data were examined., Conclusion: The establishment of minimum caseload requirements in Germany in 2004 did not lessen the number of cases performed in violation of these requirements over the period 2004 to 2010.

Background: The aim of this process evaluation was to provide insight into facilitators and barriers to the delivery of community-based personalized dementia care of two different case management models, i.e. the linkage model and the combined intensive case management/joint agency model. These two emerging dementia care models differ considerably in the way they are organized and implemented. Insight into facilitators and barriers in the implementation of different models is needed to create future guidelines for successful implementation of case management in other regions., Methods: A qualitative case study design was used; semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 stakeholders on the execution and continuation phases of the implementation process. The stakeholders represented a broad range of perspectives (i.e. project leaders, case managers, health insurers, municipalities)., Results: The independence of the case management organization in the intensive model facilitated the implementation, whereas the presence of multiple competing case management providers in the linkage model impeded the implementation. Most impeding factors were found in the linkage model and were related to the organizational structure of the dementia care network and how partners collaborate with each other in this network., Conclusions: The results of this process evaluation show that the intensive case management model is easier to implement as case managers in this model tend to be more able to provide quality of care, are less impeded by competitiveness of other care organizations and are more closely connected to the expert team than case managers in the linkage model.

The Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network (MAVEN) was deployed in 2006 by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Infectious Disease to serve as an integrated, Web-based disease surveillance and case management system. MAVEN replaced program-specific, siloed databases, which were inaccessible to local public health and unable to integrate electronic reporting. Disease events are automatically created without human intervention when a case or laboratory report is received and triaged in real time to state and local public health personnel. Events move through workflows for initial notification, case investigation, and case management. Initial development was completed within 12 months and recent state regulations mandate the use of MAVEN by all 351 jurisdictions. More than 300 local boards of health are using MAVEN, there are approximately one million events, and 70 laboratories report electronically. MAVEN has demonstrated responsiveness and flexibility to emerging diseases while also streamlining routine surveillance processes and improving timeliness of notifications and data completeness, although the long-term resource requirements are significant.

Background: Adults and children with chronic illness often require services from multiple providers. Individualized plans of care (IPCs) are sometimes developed to improve care coordination. However, their association with improved outcomes is unknown., Methods: We searched literature published between January 2001 and October 2011, using Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsychINFO, and bibliographic review. Eligible studies involved an IPC with input from the patient and/or family of individuals with chronic illness, evaluated outcomes, and were conducted in the United States. We assessed evidence quality using Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine criteria., Results: 15 studies met inclusion criteria. Studies were heterogeneous regarding populations and outcomes examined and were generally low quality. Most described IPC use within a multifaceted care coordination intervention. The strongest evidence links IPC use and symptom improvement in depressed adults; the weakest evidence exists for outcomes in children. Vague descriptions of the IPCs' limited analysis., Conclusions: Current evidence supporting an association between IPC use and improved outcomes, particularly among children, is sparse. Well-designed evaluations of clearly described IPCs are needed to examine who should be involved in their development, what they should include, and how often they should be updated to improve outcomes of care for this vulnerable population.

Aim: To consider findings from a study that evaluated case management of individuals with long-term conditions (LTCs) by a community matron (CM) service. The paper highlights issues related to the implementation of a new role and the impact this had on the experience of care across hospital and community settings for patients and their carers., Background: The introduction of the role of CM was intended to increase effective management of patients with complex comorbid LTCs through the introduction of case management, thereby reducing unplanned hospital admissions., Methods: The overall methodological approach was one of mixed methods. This paper reports the qualitative findings from CMs (n = 15); patients (n = 13); family carers (n = 8); and secondary care staff who interface with the CM service (n = 7). Data were collected between October 2009 and May 2010., Findings: A thematic analysis resulted in the identification of four themes: (1) visibility; (2) interpersonal relationships; (3) leadership; and (4) systems/professional boundaries. Patients enjoyed being seen as a whole and family carers appreciated the coordination aspect of the role. Difficulties arose from the limited understanding of the CM role and from a lack of a shared vision across healthcare professionals concerning the role and its goals.

Background: Tailored psychosocial activity-based interventions have been shown to improve mood, behaviour and quality of life for nursing home residents. Occupational therapist delivered activity programs have shown benefits when delivered in home care settings for people with dementia. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of LEAP (Lifestyle Engagement Activity Program) for Life, a training and practice change program on the engagement of home care clients by care workers. Secondary aims are to evaluate the impact of the program on changes in client mood and behaviour., Methods/design: The 12 month LEAP program has three components: 1) engaging site management and care staff in the program; 2) employing a LEAP champion one day a week to support program activities; 3) delivering an evidence-based training program to care staff. Specifically, case managers will be trained and supported to set meaningful social or recreational goals with clients and incorporate these into care plans. Care workers will be trained in and encouraged to practise good communication, promote client independence and choice, and tailor meaningful activities using Montessori principles, reminiscence, music, physical activity and play. LEAP Champions will be given information about theories of organisational change and trained in interpersonal skills required for their role. LEAP will be evaluated in five home care sites including two that service ethnic minority groups. A quasi experimental design will be used with evaluation data collected four times: 6-months prior to program commencement; at the start of the program; and then after 6 and 12 months. Mixed effect models will enable comparison of change in outcomes for the periods before and during the program. The primary outcome measure is client engagement. Secondary outcomes for clients are satisfaction with care, dysphoria/depression, loneliness, apathy and agitation; and work satisfaction for care workers. A process evaluation will also be undertaken., Discussion: LEAP for Life may prove a cost-effective way to improve client engagement and other outcomes in the community setting., Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612001064897.

As penalties for excess readmissions rise and more diagnoses are included in the program, case managers can play a major role in helping their hospitals avoid penalties. Take the time to complete a thorough assessment of patients and talk to their family members and caregivers to uncover psychosocial issues as well as medical issues and use the information to develop the discharge plan. Collaborate with post-acute providers to ensure that patients receive the services they need after discharge. When patients are readmitted, conduct a root-cause analysis to determine why they came back, track the data, and use it to develop process improvement projects.

The CMS has proposed paying physicians for managing patients apart from face-to-face office visits. Among the details under consideration are requiring practices to use an electronic health-record system that supports access to care, care coordination, care management and communications. "It's a step in the right direction. The devil will be in the details and, if the burden of documentation is so high, people may choose not to spend their time doing it," says Dr. Matt Handley, physician and medical director for quality at the Group Health Cooperative.