Q&A: Ambulatory case management staffing ratios

Q. What guidelines can hospitals follow to establish ambulatory case management staffing ratios?

A. The Care Management Institute guidelines, formed by the American Association of Managed Care Nurses CMI committee, published the following guidelines for ambulatory practice. These guidelines are practical for all ambulatory case management settings.

• Community-based case management: 100–140
• Home health: 20–30
• Ambulatory: 20–30

To clarify, these numbers represent the active caseload; most ambulatory settings are using panels of 5,000 per case manager. Appropriate screening tools must be in place to ensure that there is a focus on the right patient population.

For more information, see Longitudinal Case Management: Designs Across the Continuum of Care.

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