Q&A: Leveraging the skills of case managers

Q: Case managers are often being called to fill other roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. How can case managers contribute if they lack the skills or the recent experience necessary to succeed as bedside nurses?

A: There are plenty of ways for case managers to make a difference.

Case managers who left the bedside many years ago might not be certified to hang blood or start IVs, says Shawna Grossman Kates, director of case management at RWJBarnabas Health in Tom’s River, New Jersey. They may be able to reconcile, but not dispense medication. Therefore, the goal would be to leverage their key talents in clinical progression of care such as:

• Medication review
• Preventing delays in care through nursing support
• Providing patient education at bedside for compliance
• Calling families and giving frequent updates
• Linking multi-physician consultations for timely decision-making
• Pushing timeliness of testing schedules
• Coordinating with social work to perform discharge planning by cobbling together services and community agency availability and funding sources when resources are scarce

In addition, case managers can capitalize on their payer relationships and serve as the organizational conduit to interpreting payer responses and waivers in the face of a crisis. This helps minimize delays in patient care and transitions by securing vital payer authorizations and approvals, says Kates.

Editor's Note: This topic was addressed in the May issue of Case Management Monthly.