Essential Skills for Case Managers

Abstract

The phrase case manager has been defined many ways since the enactment of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/803289). Case managers initially served as resource managers, discharge planners, and utilization managers. Roles now include care coordinators, patient navigators, and transitional care managers. Practice settings can vary widely as well as the education and professional experiences of individual case managers, however essential skills are carried across roles. Founded in 1990, the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) is the leading non-profit association dedicated to the support and development of case management. The CMSA developed Standards of Practice that provides a foundation for case managers (http://www.cmsa.org/portals/0/pdf/memberonly/StandardsOfPractice.pdf). The standards were first published in 1995 and revised in 2002 and 2010. Case managers have come a long way over the years in gaining recognition for their endeavors and the role is expected to grow as the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented.