DorlandHealth

One of the challenges of attending the CMSA conference is choosing the programs you want to attend. This year, there were so many good programs to choose from it was hard to make a decision. I chose to go to “Case Management Practice…From a Patient’s Perspective.”

The main reason being that I know the speaker and wanted to hear what he had to say. I found my way to the room and walked into a packed house. The speaker explained his presentation was about his experience of finding out he had a rare tumor and his experience with being diagnosed, treated and his journey following a life-altering experience.

The 2010 awards, announced in a morning session on day three of the CMSA conference, conferred recognition on several outstanding regional chapters and their diligent work throughout the past year. Sponsored by Maxim Healthcare Services, the awards ceremony delivered six chapter awards for a variety of topics.

The award categories spanned educational activities, membership development, technology, regional meetings and public policy. The award winners, drawn from dozens of CMSA chapters, ranged from cities and regions from around the country. Without further ado, the following is a list of the award categories and the winning chapters. Congratulations to all winners.

The vibrant learning sessions continued during the afternoon on day three of the conference, where there was a full slate of topics to choose from. One of the most important topics now touching the practice of case management is the field of health IT and the implications of recent federal programs like HITECH and other pieces of the stimulus package.

According to Jeanine Tome, the chief clinical officer of the hospital solutions group with Allscripts, the recent focus on health IT is setting case management up for some heavy changes. “This is really a time of transformation with care management,” she said during her presentation, “What Does HITECH Mean for Electronic Health Record Adoption and the Future of Case Management?”