Making it Personal

When we are taking care of treatment arrangements and details, calling clients for updates and problem solving, attending physician visits with clients - sometimes with lengthy wait times, we establish a professional relationship with them. From the client's perspective it can seem even "personal", although it's overwhelmingly a 1-sided sharing of information. This is true not only in case management, but in every field of nursing, because nurses show empathy and compassion for others as we provide "care" for them.

I caution adjusters and carriers not to think of case manager tasks as clerical, or messengers, or that our clinic wait time is a "waste" of time. All our communications with clients are taking care of their needs - "medically" physical and emotional. The results of our nursing can seen not only in the gathering of information, treatment planning, but also in improved patient compliance and understanding, and outcomes. All going toward the goal of healing within optimal time frames. We ARE making it personal - to the patient.

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Frequent Flyer Program

A referral came in yesterday prefaced by the label, "This is one of our frequent flyers!" If you deal with workers compensation, you know what that means - an employee that has filed several work injury claims that many times are associated with bizarre, or routine circumstances that make us question validity versus some underlying motive. As Case Managers, when we receive one of these referrals, there are 3 strategies that we will employ in our treatment plan. The first and most important strategy is Choice of Physician . In Arkansas, the employer has the right to first choice of physician. We highly recommend employers take advantage of that and choose the best specialty fit for each injury on a case-by case basis. In these situations, the physician should also be one that we know is willing to review all information presented - from the injured worker, from the employer, and any medical information from the case manager. The seco...

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...

Crystal's Small Task Saves Big Bucks!

A very special customer to JMS requested a small task in obtaining an impairment rating from a physician. There seemed to be some communication issues, between the adjuster and the physician. The file initially did not have any case management services to help guide the treatment. and at the end of the process nearing file closure, there was a very high impairment rating assigned by the treating physician. Crystal Gilbert, RN got to work! Performing a file review, she found discrepancies with the past surgical history of the injured worker. The injured worker had failed to give an accurate medical history. We gathered and provided the treating physician with medical records showing a prior WC injury to the same extremity and prior surgery to the same extremity of injury. Crystal was able to get a face to face meeting with the physician - because she's just that awesome - and review the medical records and providing documentation of the prior impairment ratin...

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