CMSA'S Pulse eNewsletter
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March 2015 In This Issue
Special Announcement
Featured Events
Member Announcements
Featured Article
Articles and Links
Industry Events
CareerSmart Learning
University of Chicago Medical Center
Special Announcement

For the first time, CMSA is offering the opportunity to pre-order 2015 Extended Conference packages, featuring content that will be presented at CMSA’s 25th Annual Conference & Expo this summer in Orlando, FL.

Extended Conference is a cloud-based education solution that delivers content in audio and visual formats, providing you with on-demand access to content required to fulfill your continuing education needs. Take advantage of Extended Conference to gain timely updates from industry thought leaders; also, fulfill the requirements of your employer, professional association, as well as credentialing and licensing boards, all at once!

In addition to the pre-order option for 2015’s offering, Extended Conference 2014 packages are available through July 31, 2015. Public policy, transitions of care, and disease process management and other important updates await you. Visit www.cmsa.org/extendedconference to pre-order packages and start taking active sessions today!

 

The Case Management Foundation (CMF) is actively building industry-wide solutions to case management issues by bringing together a collaborative, inclusive community of health care professionals.  

In addition to CMF's current projects and programs, the Foundation is happy to announce members of the 2015 Board of Directors! Click the Learn More link below for details on CMF's 2015 initiatives and new board members.
 

Advance your patient engagement using motivational interviewing skills through the Integrated Case Management training program.

Begin Section 1 online training now, then register to attend the Section 2 face-to-face program, which will take place on June 21 - 22, 2015, in Orlando, FL, right before CMSA's 25th Annual Conference on June 23 - 26!

 
Featured Events
Wed, April 29, 2015
11:00 a.m. CDT

Join CMSA and CMSA National Board Member Mary McLaughlin Davis, DNP, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC, CCM, as we explore the significance of CMSA’s Standards of Practice for case management as essential knowledge for case management, care management and care coordination practices.

As the most widely recognized and accepted practice standards in the industry, these standards highlight the collaborative, cross-continuum nature of case management and are utilized by undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. In addition, the Standards are referenced in NCQA and URAC materials and align with CMS/JCAHO compliance standards.

Join us to gain heightened knowledge of Standards elements, an update on the SOP review process, and other resources to assist you and your colleagues in being proficient in the standards for your practice.
 
Thursday, April 23
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CDT
Stem Cell Transplant (SCT) is a standard of care for many blood cancers and genetic diseases, as well as a newer treatment option for others. For many patients, SCT represents the best or only hope for a cure.

This one-hour webinar explores key aspects of transplant and the role you can play in ensuring patients get to transplant quickly, which leads to improved outcomes. Learn about transplant indications, donor sources, and resources available to you to help in the review and authorization of patient cases.
 
 
American Sentinel University
CCMC (Comm. For CM Cert.)
Nielsen Healthcare Group
Member Announcements

Over the past month, CMSA members had the unique opportunity to elect the future leaders of the organization. If you took the important step to vote, you had a direct impact in determining the future direction and strategic initiatives of your association!

Your new CMSA National Board Members are Mary McLaughlin-Davis as President-Elect, Rebecca Perez as Secretary and Deborah Gutteridge as Director, who will officially begin their roles at this summer's 25th Annual Conference & Expo in Orlando, FL.
 

CMSA is proud to offer a host of new industry resources, designed to assist individuals in identifying and developing the skills needed to be effective case management practitioners and to deliver sustainable business performance.

CMSA's five new websites answer the questions that you, your colleagues, other health care professionals and the next generation of case managers are asking about the practice of case management.

 
Featured Article
Pat Stricker, RN, MEd, Senior Vice President,
TCS Healthcare Technologies

Last month’s article, "Key Functions to Consider When Looking for a Health IT Application," focused on how to determine the most important software functionalities that are essential to the success of your program. A multitude of applications are available, each with their own different features and functions, that it is difficult to find the right application unless you have spent time determining exactly what you need before you start looking at the various systems. Knowing what you need will allow you to identify the applications that provide the "must haves" and appreciate the extra "nice-to-haves" that you may not have thought of or that are of lesser priority.

 
Creative Educational Concepts, Inc.
Amramp
Kindred Healthcare, Inc.
Articles and Links
Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) provide coordinated, high-quality care and better value to Medicare beneficiaries. Building on experience from the Pioneer ACO Model and the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), the Next Generation ACO Model offers a new opportunity in accountable care—one that sets predictable financial targets, enables greater levels of financial risk so that providers have more opportunities to coordinate beneficiaries’ care, and maintains the highest of quality standards consistent with other Medicare programs and models. This is in accordance with the Department of Health and Human Services’ "Better, Smarter, Healthier" approach to improving our nation’s health care and setting clear, measurable goals and a timeline to move the Medicare program—and the health care system at large—toward paying providers based on the quality rather than the quantity of care they provide to patients.

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

 
More than 4.1 million young people selected a plan or were re-enrolled; nearly 7.7 million people with plan selections in HealthCare.gov states qualify for an average tax credit of $263 per month

Nationwide, nearly 11.7 million consumers selected or were automatically re-enrolled in quality, affordable health insurance coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace as of Feb. 22, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Of those, 8.84 million (76 percent) were in states using the HealthCare.gov platform and 2.85 million (24 percent) were in the 14 states (including Washington, D.C.) using their own Marketplace platforms. Nearly 7.7 million individuals with a plan selection in the states using HealthCare.gov qualified for an average tax credit of $263 per month and more than half (55 percent) paid $100 or less per month after tax credits.

Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

 
Industry Events
Marsha Sinetar said, "When we see problems as opportunities for growth, we tap a source of knowledge within ourselves." To be successful in the next decade, case managers will need to demonstrate foresight in navigating a rapidly shifting landscape of organizational forms and skill requirements. Placing additional emphasis on developing skills such as critical thinking, insight, and analysis capability will bring the case manager to a place of innovation and discovery.
 
From my 22 years of membership in this great organization, I have discovered that every level of participation, no matter how large or small, always proves invaluable in making the challenges of case management less arduous. CMSA’s annual national conference focuses on the most timely and relevant issues that pertain to case management today. I would recommend that every case manager attend this event for the unsurpassed educational and networking opportunities as well as the unforgettable memories it provides.

Speaking of opportunities, I would like to share with you my "certification journey" as a nurse case manager, the third of which was inspired by a keynote at CMSA's annual conference. Read more at the link.

 
 
 

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