2105 Title: Weaving the Safety Net: Lessons for Case Management Practice Date / Time: Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 02:30 PM - 04:00 PM Type: CONCURRENT Level: ADVANCED Sponsor(s): - Speaker(s): Mary C. Ramos Overwhelming successes of military medicine in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters – saving the lives of grievously wounded service members who would have perished in earlier conflicts – have imposed an enormous burden upon both the Military and Veterans Health Care Systems. In 2007, as weaknesses in extant care systems became public, The President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors (Dole-Shalala Commission) was formed to evaluate care within Military and VA systems.  In July of that year, the Commission released its recommendations. Its very first recommendation was to launch an innovative program to facilitate the most efficient, effective, patient-centered care for the most seriously ill and injured: the Federal Recovery Coordination Program (FRCP). Military (including focused warrior care programs) and VA health care systems were already successfully utilizing Case Management programs in 2007, and common roots gave rise to both traditional health care Case Management and the FRCP. However, the FRCP is not a Case Management Program. Neither is it meta-Case Management nor Case Management oversight. It is an expanded role that shares Case Management standards, ethics, principles, and processes while providing a fertile source for enriching and expanding Case Management knowledge. Federal Recovery Coordinators carry caseloads and coordinate resources, as do Case Managers. They ensure coordination and facilitation of care within and between military, civilian, and VA health care organizations as active members of the health care team. They have knowledge concerning vast inventories of Military and Veterans benefits; and they facilitate the development of Recovery Plans, which resemble life plans, for each patient. One unique function of the FRC is to bring perceived “gaps in service” to the attention of the offices of the Secretaries of the VA and Defense. FRC practice crosses boundaries such as those delineating health care organizations, health care plans, community agencies, and benefits programs. Best practices that have emerged, as the FRCP has developed, can provide new knowledge for Case Management Practice, new avenues for expansion of the Case Management role, and new challenges for those working to provide the best care for patients in rapidly changing health care systems. Objectives: State the present history of Federal Recovery Coordination Program (FRCP). Describe FRCP interface with other case and care management functions. Discuss a case study.