Case managers recognize care coordination as one of the most effective strategies they can implement in responding to the myriad of needs their patients have today. Patients with complex physical illnesses, co-morbid behavioral health problems, and psycho-social needs are no longer the exception, but the rule, for most case managers. Yet care coordination remains siloed – medical case management is handled by the nurse, and behavioral health case management is handled by the social worker. These two disciplines still struggle to answer the question: “Whose patient is it anyway?”

Learn how a MCO, entrenched in the traditional care management model, worked with their behavioral health vendor to incorporate the INTERMED Complexity  Assessment Grid (IM-CAG) tool into a successful co-management program. You will see how the plan overcame professional “turf” issues, alleviated staff fears about coordinating all their patient’s care (medical and behavioral) without cross-discipline handoffs, and how they obtained “buy in” from administration to implement this integrated program. In this session you will learn how this MCO met the challenges of team restructuring, staffing, and training. As an added bonus, you will receive an overview of the new IM-CAG technology; and hear examples of how this tool was used in real case studies. Join us and learn how we met these challenges, moved forward with this cutting-edge integrated program, measured our successes, and how our patients wound up being the winners.

1. Describe the methods used to introduce and obtain acceptance of the new integrated case management concept from administration, experienced medical / psychiatric nurse case managers and behavioral health social workers.
2. List 3 challenges encountered when restructuring a traditional case management program to an integrated case management tool.
3. Describe the 4 domains of the IM-CAG tool and the associated established anchor points that ensure accurate case scoring.