Hopefully you were able to attend many sessions yesterday and made new connections out on the show floor. Were you able to get out and enjoy some of the great amenities that the city of Cleveland offers? There’s so much do to and see; it’s truly been a wonderful place to host the 24th CMSA Conference and Expo, and we hope that you agree. 

Today starts off early in the buzzing Expo Hall. Come by early starting at 8 am for breakfast and a last chance to network with colleagues and vendors until 10:15 am. Next, from 10:30 am – 11:30 am, the last grouping of Concurrent Sessions will take place. 

Beginning at 11:45 am, you won’t want to miss our closing keynote presentation with Sergeant Dakota Meyer, a Medal of Honor and Purple Heart recipient, who is a veteran of the Marine Corps and the War in Afghanistan. During this presentation, we’ll also announce the Practice Improvement & Case Management Research Awards. At 2 pm, we’ll be adjourned and this will conclude this year’s conference and expo. 

We sincerely hope that your last day today is impactful and productive, and we can’t wait to see you at next year’s event, beginning June 23, 2015, in sunny and warm Orlando, Florida.  

This Concurrent Session, a part of CMSA’s Pathway to Certification series, discussed all aspects of psychosocial influencers that dictate how case managers treat and manage their clients/patients. 

The setting of case management will largely influence psychosocial issues that surface, and all issues are situation dependent. This session discussed all general factors, including:

• Living situation
• Education
• Social economic status
• Available support systems
• Health insurance status
• Legal encumbrance
• Behavioral health issues

The session discussed the importance of understanding special issues as these largely affect patients’ treatment and their path to recovery. It’s important to always complete a psychosocial assessment so you know where the patient stands and set benchmarks for their treatment plan. 

Dr. Roger Kathol and Rebecca Perez also discussed the importance of understanding multicultural issues and patients’ acceptance and trust in Western Medicine practices. In demonstrating your value, Perez emphasized that setting goals and measuring outcomes, whether it’s a decrease in depression severity or lower cholesterol numbers. This is concrete evidence that case managers can directly impact the outcomes of patients and clients and should be used to demonstrate expertise and the important role case managers have in the care continuum. 

Save the Date!
25th Annual CMSA Conference and Expo

June 23, 2015

Orlando, Florida

Join the Excitement!

Join us bright and early at 8 am today where you can enjoy brunch from 8 – 9:30 am. Network with colleagues and learn more about how products and services from the CMSA vendor community can help you be a more effective case manager. 

Also enjoy the Poster Viewing (PP10 – PP17), exhibitor prize drawings, and $500 cash giveaways (sponsored by Allsup & xG Health Solutions).

Schedule At a Glance: Friday, June 20

I’ve been coming for three years in a row. I feel the conferences are very educational, and because it’s on the national level, you can make connections with a lot of people from across the country – learn what they’re doing in their hospital versus what you’re doing in yours. 

I attended a session this morning that was very impactful. It was session 2208, "A Call to Action for Hospital Case Managers...Financial Reimbursement or Improved Patient Outcomes... Where Do You Stand?" It had an excellent speaker; they really brought home what a case manager was supposed to do. She even gave you the encouragement to go to administration within your organization to talk about the standards of practice, and getting them on board even when there’s resistance. 

Out on the show floor today, I had a great experience taking to a vendor who supplied life vests. Turns out I had difficulty getting one for a patient previously, so it was nice to be exposed to a different company versus the one option that we thought we had back at home. 

This is my second consecutive year attending the CMSA conference, and I enjoy attending because I’m able to easily connect with other case managers from different regions of the country, and to see what’s working in other facilities as compared to what we’re doing in ours back at home. Having the opportunity to talk to different case managers from different walks of life – from acute care to workers’ comp. Across the board, there’s just a great sense of comradery of case management here. 

A really impactful moment for me was yesterday’s keynote speaker with Dr. Jerry Linenger. It was a great presentation that was down to earth and really drew the connection of what we do on a daily basis, and taking time out for yourself. He was taking about his time in space, the perils and things he faced, and drew the connection to appreciate the air you breathe every day.

Today’s session on acute case management really hit home for me because it’s sometimes hard to find great information on my case management specialty. The speaker mentioned all the other tasks that we’ve taken on as case managers, and lately it seems that it’s actually been more task-oriented than patient-oriented. I really got a lot out of attending that session.

Staff, attendees, and speakers post conference updates, live tweet sessions, and interact with on CMSA's Twitter page throughout conference week. Follow us @CMSANational and be sure to use the official hashtag, #CMSA2014, in all of your conference tweets!