Last week, I attended the CCMC New World Symposium at the Gaylord Palms Hotel. The conference was interesting and allowed me to catch up with colleagues and friends in the area of case management. Today, case management professionals are in a position to effect change and to demonstrate the important work they do throughout the broad healthcare system.

The objectives of the conference were:

Develop ME: Create awareness of the current and future landscapes influencing the client, family and care providers across the care continuum

Empower ME: Empower the case manager through education, advocacy, and ethical practice

Inspire ME: establish a forum and provide resources, knowledge, and skill development for evidence-based practice across the healthcare continuum.

Entertain ME: Participants in multi-sensory learning activities.

Looking back over the event, I would have to say that the Commission for Case Manager Certification met their goals and objectives for this event.  The event provided information that case managers could use to improve the work they do.

As I am not in active practice today, I found the information worthwhile for me to use as a mentor and a leader in the practice. Much of what was said from the podium was relevant information that case managers need to focus on if they want to be successful.

Here are some of the sessions that provided me with information that I could use to help professionals involved in case management and those wanted to move into this area of practice.

The first session I attended was an Industry Supported Breakfast Session titled: Continuous Glucose Monitoring: Complete Care Management Solutions for Diabetes. I was able to share the information with my sister in law who is a long term diabetic and looking for new tools that will help keep her sugars in line. She will also share the information with her nephew who is a juvenile diabetic and is learning how to manage his diabetes so he limits the complications that can come with the disease. To learn more, visit Dexcom.

The next session that I attended was Case Management Competence: Reframing What Defines Practice Excellence. Case Management/Social Work leader Ellen Fink-Samnick was the speaker and did a great job outlining the competencies all case managers need to build to be successful in their role regardless of their setting or discipline. Today, there are many professional disciplines involved in case management and all contribute to ensuring patients and family members navigate the complex world of healthcare with help and support. As professionals, we must meet our individual professional disciplines as well as the competencies that define the practice of Case Management. Ellen has written numerous articles and two books that each case management department should have on their shelves as references and knowledge points for their teams. Her latest book is titled: The Essential Guide to Interprofessional Ethics in Healthcare Case Management. COLLABORATE(R) for Professional Case Management: A Universal Competency-Based Paradigm. This book was co-authored by Teresa Treiger.

A highlight of the meeting for me was the first keynote speaker, Dr. Jerome Adams, Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Jerome shared his personal story of having a brother who is in prison as a result of drug use. It was a stark reminder of how each of us can be touched by the opioid crisis. Dr. Adams talked about his work as the Country’s doctor and asked for help from all healthcare professionals to help him improve the health of people in our country. I felt a personal connection to his plea as I am working with the board of the National Nursing Network to move the National Nurse Act through the Bill passage process of Congress. This bill speaks directly to Dr. Adams request for each of us to do our part to educate and empower consumers to change behaviors and take better care of themselves. We all have a role to play, and case managers are positioned perfectly to position to effect change in their work as well as their communities.

The next two sessions were interesting to me, so I tried to split my time between each. In one room, Lynn Muller presented Documentation and Professional Ethics. She shared information that left me inspired to educate all nurses and case managers to make sure each has their own malpractice insurance. You need to protect your license and your certification. Having malpractice insurance will provide you with assistance if you are called before the Board of Nursing or the Certificate Board if you are involved in a lawsuit or a complaint is filed against your license or certification.

The second session was led by Stefani Daniels, a leader in Hospital Case Management. Her session, NexGen Hospital Case Management: Transformation to Value-Based Care Coordination. With the industry in disruption, ensuring case managers know their role is critical. Stefanie Daniels has written extensively on the topic. If you are a hospital case manager, the information will help you improve your organization’s work and help you gain the support of those in the C-Suite. Here is the link to her website, Phoenix Medical Management.

The next session I attended was presented by Jennifer Wenzel, from Johns Hopkins University. Her presentation was Nurse-Community Navigator Partnerships to Improve Treatment Decisions-Making for patients and Decisions Partners. She talked about how her program is using community health workers who are meeting the patient where they are and helping to improve adherence to the plan of care. Community Health Workers are an emerging practice in the healthcare arena assisting people in gaining trust in the system and understanding how it works.

The last speaker of the day was Ron Culberson, Author, Speaker, and Humorist. His session, Do it Well. Make it Fun left us laughing and feeling good as moved to the exhibit hall and adjourned for the day.

We started bright and early for the first session of Day 2. The session was titled: Ready, Set, Transition: Navigating Valued-based Care initiatives through Effective Post-acute Transitions. The session was led by Lecia Snell-Kinen from Option Care. She talked about various programs that changing reimbursement systems from fee-for-services to value-based services where reimbursement is based on outcomes and quality. Case Managers play an essential role in value-based programs.

Next, a longtime friend and colleague, Dana Deravin-Carr from Jacobi Medical Center spoke on Effective Communication, and Collaboration in High-Risk Transitions Transforms Care at the Bedside – Hospital to Home. Dana shared examples from her organization as well as trends and issues impacting today’s organizations. She gave tips on how case managers can improve how they communicate to the variety of patients and families we are called to care for across the care continuum.

Poster sessions were viewed in the Exhibit Hall. The topics were diverse and showed the impact of case management in many areas such as transitions of care, bundled payments, Oncology Case Management, Bereavement Programs in the Nero-critical Care Unit, HIPAA Compliant Test best practices,  and ED case management just to name a few.

The Exhibit Hall was filled with resources that case managers can use to meet the needs of their patients. I found many product and services that were new and innovative and allowed me to learn and grow.

The entire CCMC team did a great job on this event. Next year, the conference will be held in Denver Colorado. If you are doing good work in your area of practice, think about submitting a request to do a presentation, develop a poster or write an article in one of the various case management publications. Feel free to email me for ideas at allewellyn48@gmail.com

My next conference will be the Population Health Colloquium in Philadelphia, March 18-20th. To learn more and register to click here If you can’t make the live event, I will be covering this from Philadelphia so look for updates on Twitter, Linked In and Facebook!

Have a good week!

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