Would a case manager work for your practice?
Would a case manager work for your practice?
Here’s how to find out
How do you know when your practice can support a case manager? It depends on your individual situation.
Maureen Cadogan, CCM, CPHQ, RN, principal of Cadogan Consulting in West Covina, CA, helps medical groups put together case management programs. She knows of one two-physician practice that has hired its own case manager. "Their volume of patients was busy enough that they felt it warranted the intervention of a case manager," she says.
However, she points out that this practice is the exception. Generally, it takes three or more physicians with high caseloads to support a case manager, she says.
Sue Binder RN, CCM, says her experience shows that any group with 100 or more doctors can benefit from case managers. Binder, principal of Integrated Healthcare Consultants in Caldwell, NJ, contracts with physician practices to manage patient care. Practices with a large Medicare population or a busy medical/surgical component are also good candidates, she adds.
Smaller practices have the option of hiring an independent case manager as a consultant, Cadogan says. Independent case managers will work either on an hourly basis or on a case-by-case basis.
Or, you might consider contracting with one of your insurers to provide case management for your patients.
Here are some questions to ask yourself before you hire a case manager:
• Do you have substantial financial risk if you don’t manage certain cases?
• Do you have a lot of chronically ill or elderly patients with multiple comorbidities who are taking up a lot of your time?
• What are salary norms for case managers in your area?
• What would be the direct costs to your group?
• What would your cost savings be if you were able to better manage patient care?
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