UAB Hospital will celebrate the important patient-focused functions of case management, utilization management and social work as part of National Case Management Week, Oct. 12-18. The weeklong event recognizes case managers’ significant contributions in coordinating patient care, enhancing quality and implementing cost-effective clinical interventions.
The 2014 Case Management Conference, “Case Management, Building Steps to a Brighter Future,” will run from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, at the Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium. Nurses, case managers and other interested medical professionals are invited to participate.
“The role of the case manager is increasingly critical in this changing economic landscape as the population ages and health care becomes increasingly difficult to navigate,” said Denise Pruitt, director of utilization management. “The collaboration of case management, utilization management and social work is necessary for the advocacy of our patients’ safe and timely discharges, home care needs and coverage benefits. Each function is integral to a patient’s holistic health and healing.”
Topics at the conference include health care reform, guidelines for Medicare reimbursement, the ethics of end-of-life care and leadership principles in the complex modern world. Featured speakers are David Becker, Ph.D., associate professor of public health; Martha Dawson, MNHSA, FACHE, assistant professor of nursing; Benjamin Taylor, M.D., chief quality officer for UAB Hospital; and Wendy Walters MSW, LCSW, UAB Hospital family support coordinator.
Janet Gillispie, author of the inspirational “Delivered: A Memoir,” will present her personal story of recovery from addiction with a presentation titled My Road to Recovery.