Little Rock, AR — A landmark event will occur April 4, 2003 in Miami, when the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) and Professional Resources in Management Education, Inc. (PRIME) partner to produce the first Physician/Case Manager Summit to herald best practices in collaboration.

the meeting, title "Improving Patient Care Through Collaboration" will be co-facilitated by David Nash, MD, MBHA, and Kathleen Moreo, RN, Cm, BSN, BHSA, CCM, CDMS, CEAC. Nash is aSsociate Dean and Director of the Office of Health Policy at Jefferson Medical College. He is also a nationally acclaimed speaker, author health policy consultant and medical educator. Moreo is CMSA's 2001 Case Manager of the Year and a past president of CMSA.

"The goal of this innovative summit is to recognize, facilitate, and improve effective teamwork between physicians and case managers in payer and provider settings," stated Karen Chambers, CMSA President. "Thought leaders representing multiple stakeholders will participate in this landmark event."

A consensus paper that reflects the outcome of the meeting will be drafted and distributed to approximately 20,000 physicians and case managers throughout the health industry following the summit. Participants in the summit will include thought leaders in the Department of Defense, CMS, Veteran's Administration, large health plans and insurers, disease management companies, and integrated delivery systems.

In the past few years, CMSA has assessed a growing need among its membership for more effective collaboration between physicians and case managers. "There was an overwhelming response to a keynote presentation targeting challenges and opportunities between physicians and case managers at our 2001 conference," notes Jeanne Boling, MSN, CRRN, CDMS, CCM, Executive Director of CMSA. "It was the first signal that this was an issue we had to address as an association."

Chambers stated, "This reaction eventually led to the 2002-2003 CMSA Board of Directors identifying effective physician/case manager collaboration as a key initiative for CMSA to accomplish in the coming year."

The Physician/Case Manager Summit is made possible through an educational grant from Ortho Biotech Products, L.P., a supporter of CMSA since 1999 and a pharmaceutical company long committed to supporting the synergistic needs of physicians and case managers with goals to improve patient care.

PRIME, Inc., a national health care educational company providing physician and case manager CME education, is working with CMSA to accomplish the goals of this meeting. PRIME, Inc. is the first and only health care educational company to achieve Core Accreditation from URAC for its services and programs.

For more information, please contact Tena Bolin at tbolin@acminet.com or at (501) 225-2229 ext. 43.