Skip to main content

One Hit Wonder

She's already done it twice this week - shut down a file with one Physician visit.  But this just goes to show how effective an onsite RN Case Manager can be!  She once got MMI and RTW on three files, on the first MD visit, all in one day.  We call her our One Hit Wonder.  You know, like artists that got a number one hit with one song that was amazing.  Steve Martin's King Tut still is an all time favorite one hit wonder!  

Click Here to Play King Tut Video                  

Play King Tut VideoHow does she do it?  Well, honestly most of the time it boils down to communication. Communication with the injured worker. Communication with the employer. Communication with the physician.  Nothing brings everyone together on the same page quite like onsite (field) case management.  Gathering pertinent information in a thorough intake assessment, and coming to the physician visit prepared with that information, A JMS Case Manager artfully communicates carrier issues, bringing everyone on the same page.  That's why adjuster's request JMS!

Sometimes there is a lot of fear on the part of the injured worker to RTW regular duty - sometimes it's just plain malingering.  The physician may have concerns whether an employee can RTW without a clear understanding of the physical job demands - or exaggerated demands that were related.  Many times the physician, thinking he's working for the best interest of the injured worker, just lets the healing time go on and on until the "patient" feels he/she can RTW.  The personal touch of onsite case management seems to be the magic that pulls everything together for file resolution.  Case Managers are "problem solvers."  So you can weigh the cost of a few hours of case management services with the ongoing TTD payments, medical visits, and see for yourself the benefit.  You might be lucky enough to get a one hit wonder!   



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At the Heart of Case Management

I have done presentations on The Benefits of Case Management to carriers, peers, and other health care professionals.  Sometimes it sounds dry and philosophical to list benefits: access to care, best practice recovery, lowered cost expenditures. But who is the one that benefits?  In our practice, is it the injured worker? the employer? the insurance carrier? From the Case Management Society of America, "It is the philosophy of case management that when health care is appropriately and efficiently provided, all parties benefit." Allow me to demonstrate for you the heart of case management from two of our case managers this week. One of our CM Team has a patient that was "swimming" amidst a work injury and numerous mis-diagnoses and was fearful this CM's job was to just "write him off." Our RN worked to find a physician that would clarify his diagnoses, even collaborating between his group health carrier and Work Comp carrier.  At the conclusion of a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Case Management GPS

W The next time I purchase a new vehicle there are several features I have on my wish list.  For as much as we case managers travel, Navigation is high on the priority scale to make life easier.  Under the pressure of arriving at a physician appointment on time, it's never a good feeling to take a wrong turn or get lost. There are times our role as a case manager is much like a navigator. Deana Scott, RN had that experience just yesterday while attending a physician visit.  After three years of treatment for a work injury, the physician had nothing further to offer, and there appeared to be issues of malingering and symptom magnification.  There was a point at which the physician actually had a look in his eye of being lost as  far as how to bring the treatment course to an end.  Confusion centered around  the injured worker's return to work goals.   It's at times like this, a Case Manager is able to maintain focus and much like a navigato...
1 comment
Read more

Patient Advocacy

Stacy Mathis, RN Because JMS Consulting is the premier provider of case management services in Arkansas, we are approached frequently by out of state companies with a service request to work files under the guise of their namesake. As long as our business philosophy and standards align, we do this for a few companies. We recently parted ways with one such "national" company after they asked us to change wording in our reporting, as "the carrier might think we were advocating for the patient and not the customer" -- REALLY??? Of course, we were! At JMS, we believe in getting our patients the best treatment, with the best providers. Our professional networking and resourcefulness help fill in gaps of care and move things along to reduce the costs of recovery from a work injury. Today I read an article in CMSA Today on " Collaboration in Case Management " that deftly explains  the case manager's role in the managed care system; "A case mana...
Post a Comment
Read more