ER case management

[Erica Schlicht]

I currently work as an inpatient RN case manager for a 250 bed acute hospital. We have been discussing adding ER case managers to provide utilization management and then to work in conjunction with a social worker to provide effective discharge planning. We are looking for some data based journal articles to support the initiation of this new position. Any suggestions?? I have been searching and searching and can't find much. Thank you!

[Richard Scott]

Hi Erica - Thanks for the question. To search for the best answer, I checked in with CM thought leader Stefani Daniels, who operates a hospital case management consultancy firm. Here's what Ms. Daniels said:

"There are plenty of articles and research studies about the benefits of an ED program to provide UR, CDI, and direct referrals to the community. [Karen] Zander even wrote a book specific for ED case mgmt, though you don’t really see case mgmt going on in the ED…although, they call the UR people case managers, they’re not really doing case mgmt – they’re just making sure patient is InterQual qualified for hospital level of care (inpt or obs). The SW in the ED is generally the role that makes the referral to a community resource. And in smaller hosdpitals, one person does it all."

I would recommend a literature search in some of the leading case management related publishing bodies.