By Anne Llewellyn, RN-BC, MS, BHSA, CCM, CRRN
Editor-in-Chief of Case in Point Magazine and the Case Management Resource Guide

For the Day Four review of CMSA’s national conference, the managing editor of Case In Point magazine, Richard Scott, shares his take on the proceedings of the day.

Our fourth day of coverage of the Case Management Society of America’s national conference saw the second open session of the cavernous exhibit hall, nearly two dozen distinct symposia, the transfer of the presidential gavel, and an eminently engaging keynote presentation dedicated to the theme of managing in the difficult economic times we now face.

By the time the exhibit hall reopened at 11:00 a.m., there had been seven symposia on a wide range of topics, from guided care and diabetes to wound care, depression and chronic illness, in addition to the official CMSA Public Policy Meeting. One of the symposia veered from the straightforward motif of a disease state to approach a trend in health care delivery that has proven to provide excellent results, if the trend itself is somewhat under the radar.

In a large conference room within the north building of the Phoenix Convention Center, Alpesh Amin, the Executive Director of the Hospitalist Program at University of California, Irvine, delivered a presentation titled “Improving Health Outcomes Through Team-Based Care.” Dr. Amin, who is the president and chair of the department of medicine at the same institution, delved into the collegiate approach he has developed and implemented at his hospital. But first, he explored the background facts of his presentation, describing the basics of the team member referred to as a hospitalist.

They are physicians, he explained, whose primary professional focus is the general medical care of hospitalized patients. They may engage in clinical care, research, coordination and other diverse but always focused areas. The role of the hospitalist in today’s medical world is not a foreign concept. Nearly one-third of community hospitals employ hospitalists, he explained. And in facilities with more than 500 hospital beds, more than 70 percent utilize this team member. Overall, there are some 28,000 hospitalists practicing around the country, constituting a greater number in their ranks than many specializing physicians.

At Dr. Amin’s facility, he has helped usher in a unique approach to fostering team-based practice. One of the most unique aspects relative to case managers is the shift away from unit-based practice to one which is service-based, meaning that case managers, reporting to and conferring with the hospitalist, tread a lot of tile as they cover patients in less localized settings. Dr. Amin reports a fluid work environment, due in part to a greater understanding of each team member’s specified roles and responsibilities. He also exhibited the growing patient satisfaction rates within his organization.

The team-based model of care, which includes a variety of individuals, from the hospitalist, intensivist, and ER physician to the bedside nurse, case manager and pharmacist, displays the type of collaborative care that can make a prodigious difference within the current layout of health care. It is an approach we are certain to hear more of in the coming years.

Expo: Round Two

The second day of the open exhibit hall brought the same energy and enthusiasm as the first. Case managers discussed the latest advancements and resources impacting their practice with hundreds of industry-leading vendors. From brain injury care providers like Learning Services to stroke rehabilitation companies like Saebo, practitioners had the opportunity to learn about the forward-trending companies that are capable of providing the information and services that can best help their patients.

The expo hall will open for a third and final time on Friday, sandwiched between nearly three dozen compelling symposia. If you were not able to attend the conference, many vendors are listed within Dorland Health’s Case Management Resource Guide, which you can visit here online.

Changing of the Guard

The main session of the day occurred at the close of the exhibit hall. In the beautiful Phoenix Symphony Hall, the reins of CMSA changed hands, as outgoing president Jeff Frater bestowed the gavel to the incoming president Peggy Leonard, a staunch advocate of case management who has sat as the Chair of CMSA’s Public Policy Committee. During her introduction, Jeff Frater displayed a photograph of Ms. Leonard alongside Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during a recent trip to our nation’s capitol. “She is going to take you places,” the outgoing president said in what could be considered an understatedly glowing caption to the image.

“She is the embodiment of excellence in case management,” said a supporter of the new president, who hails from the Hudson Valley chapter of CMSA. In an auspicious start, one of her first acts as president granted complimentary membership to the national organization to an audience member with the desire to join. It was a fitting gesture.

“I will help you internalize, not just memorize, the concept of leadership,” Ms. Leonard said during her introductory address. She shared thank yous and congratulations to her associates, colleagues and family. In a surprise turn of events, she was then joined on stage by Mickey Mouse, who expressed his interest in meeting all of the case managers at next year’s 20^th anniversary conference in Orlando.

Managing Tough Times

The dynamic keynote of the fourth day’s main session came via managerial and strategy guru Stan Slap, who summed up the intent of his presentation in a neat directive – “how to keep standing up when everything around you seems to be falling down.”

A major emphasis of his presentation, which contained some very sharp and at times humorous accompanying slides, was the very real notion of employee culture. He cited anthropologists and early adopters of culturally related business models to elucidate the inner dynamic of every workforce. Managers, he emphasized, are not part of employee culture, which exists and propagates through gathering information and sharing experiences. “Culture is an information-gathering organism,” he said.

One of the exciting themes of his talk centered on branding, which he sees as a matter of faith, or an elevated notion of trust. Branding, he said, is never doled out (from the direction of a company, organization, etc.), but is conferred onto such institutions as a “tribute” by customers or patients. It is untarnished, unblemished, at a perfect level, when customers relate intrinsically to the interests of the company.

And in these difficult economic times, it is important, he noted, to look backward, not forward. The climate invariably will change, and successful moments from the past may be the best guide to the future. You can learn more about Stan Slap on his website, and he invited all attendees to email him with any subsequent inquiries.

Day Four officially came to an end at 8 p.m. after another dozen educational sessions, and with it the eve of the conference’s final day. Friday holds yet another round of symposia and a final opening of the exhibit hall. It should be said that two multitalented and perseverant ambassadors of Dorland Health, going presently by the names of Bernadette Brady and Michelle Cammarotta, are enthused by the multitude of case management partners.

Thus far it has been an incredibly educational week, and a great place to meet and converse with like-minded colleagues. Until next year.

(Note: Case In Point Weekly will revert to its normal format beginning next week.)

Have a great week.