CASE MANAGEMENT – THE ORIGINAL DEFINITION

Case management is a cross-disciplinary specialty practice based in advocacy seeking to identify the resources people need to achieve physical and mental health.  But, is there more?

Humble Beginnings

Case management has been a key function of social work since the founding of the profession. In the beginning the case worker’s function was straightforward and uncomplicated. The case worker was face-to-face with the client without intermediaries or mountains of documentation. People in need would find their way to an agency, and the case worker would try to help them out by referring them to a primary caregiver who would feed them or house them or give them medical attention. Elementary - a primal exchange of kindness and good-will between a society in good faith and an individual in need.

The Passage of Time

Like every human endeavor, however, as time passed case management became vastly more complicated. More and more people in need found their way to social service agencies. More and more funding was required and that resulted in more and more government oversite. Case workers began to specialize, and professional standards were established. A new definition of case management began to emerge.

The Modern Definition of Case Management

Case management is now defined as a professional and collaborative process that assesses, plans, implements, coordinates, monitors, and evaluates the options and services required to meet an individual’s health needs. (Commission for Case Management Certification, 2015)

The National Association of Social Workers defines social work practice as applying the values, principles, and techniques of social work to achieve one or more of the following:

• Helping people obtain tangible services
• Counseling and psychotherapy with individuals, families, and groups
• Helping communities or groups provide or improve social and health services
• Participating in legislative processes

Current Case Management Practice

Clearly, case management is no longer simple or straightforward. Case management has evolved into a highly professional systematic progression designed to provide clients with effective services and to protect them and the various agencies from unscrupulous or reckless behavior.

The case management process is defined by nine iterative steps:

1. Screening
2. Assessing
3. Stratifying risk
4. Planning
5. Implementation/care coordination
6. Following up
7. Transitional care
8. Communicating post transition
9. Evaluating

Where Does FAMCare Help?

The engineers at Global Vision Technologies designed the FAMCare rapid case management system with these nine iterative steps in mind. They designed the screening and assessing steps into the software while allowing each user to customize the forms. The intuitive workflow processor in FAMCare guides the caseworker through all nine iterative steps and reminds the worker when important events and tasks are due. They will know when a treatment plan needs reviewing, a medical exam is due, or an assessment requires action!

Evolution

The evolution of case management into its modern iteration required a comparable evolution of the tools required to get the job done. The designers and engineers at GVT constantly monitor the case worker’s evolving role in social services and update the FAMCare Rapid Case Management software accordingly.