Last week, 50 CMSA members met virtually with members of Congress and their staff to represent case managers nationwide and advocate for CMSA’s public policy priorities. Participants in the 2023 CMSA Virtual Hill Visits Program worked to educate legislators about the importance of case managers and their critical role in improving patient health outcomes. This important event helped to elevate the professional practice of case management and the immediate needs of case managers nationwide.

CMSA is committed to advocating for the following legislative priorities:

• WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT:  CMSA is highly committed to workforce development initiatives defined in three ways: development of professional skill set, attracting new case managers to the professional practice and recognition of case management as a critical component of the healthcare team.
  
  
• TELEHEALTH:  While telehealth is certainly not a new technology or a new mode of communication,  recent temporary policy changes have reduced barriers to telehealth access and have promoted its use to deliver acute, chronic, primary and specialty care. CMSA supports both state and federal legislation around telehealth to make access permanent, include case managers in reimbursement models and understand potential limitations.
  
  
• MENTAL HEALTH:  CMSA is committed to being actively involved in ensuring mental health services are a critical component within the integrated case management model of care and that the temporary funding for expanded mental health services and substance use disorder services is made permanent. While awareness of mental illness and substance use disorder is on the rise, more formal policy is needed to support community programs, overall funding and continued access.

Through nearly 30 scheduled meetings, participants of the CMSA Virtual Hill Visits Program made progress in advancing the awareness of the professional practice of case management to ensure “a seat at the table” for future healthcare legislation. Additionally, CMSA advocates worked for more permanent access to and funding for both telehealth and mental health services beyond the public health emergency, set to expire on May 11th.

CMSA’s public policy efforts are ongoing, and includes educational webinars, articles, blogs and in-person sessions. Additionally, work continues to support the CMSA Chapters with their grass-roots efforts and encourages all case managers to be active locally and at the state level. Stay tuned for what's next and more information on how you can get involved and make an impact.

Don’t Miss the Premier Case Management Event of the Year

It’s time to make your plans to join us for the 2023 CMSA Annual Conference & Expo, “Discovering Solutions, Driving Change,” June 27-30, 2023, in Las Vegas. CMSA never disappoints, with a jam-packed schedule offering CEs, opportunities to learn from experts in the field and your case management peers, the latest advances in support of your work and, of course, no shortage of fun.

Conference highlights: 

• OPENING KEYNOTE: KAI KIGHT “Compose Your World”
• DAY 2 KEYNOTE: BRUCE BERGER, PhD “Living With Your Eyes Open: Recognizing and Addressing Self Deception”
• CLOSING KEYNOTE: JEAN WATSON, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, LL (AAN) “Humanization of Health Care: Philosophy & Practice of Human Caring /Healing/ Health”
• 30 CONCURRENT SESSIONS
• MULTIPLE SYMPOSIA
• BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! CMSA NETWORKING ROUNDTABLES
• 4-HOUR PRECONFERENCE SESSION: LEADERSHIP
• 4-HOUR PRECONFERENCE SESSION: WRITER’S WORKSHOP
• 7.5-HOUR PRECONFERENCE: MVD DAY

With both an in-person or digital registration option, everyone can join us in June for learning, networking and fun! Find the full schedule of events and register at cmsa.societyconference.com.

A SENSE MAKING APPROACH TO MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING

Monday, March 20, 2023, 12 p.m. Eastern
 
1 Hour CE: RN, SW, CCM

Nonadherence to medication regimens is a multibillion-dollar problem. This session will describe a new sense-making approach to motivational interviewing (MI), an evidence-based approach to improving treatment adherence with health behaviors and health outcomes. This session will help learners understand why current persuasive and paternalistic ways of talking with patients are ineffective. Cases will be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of MI skills in time-limited environments.

Presenter:
Bruce A. Berger, PhD, President, Berger Consulting, LLC and Professor Emeritus, Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy

FREE WEBINAR for Members and Non-Members. 
Sponsored by Paratek

CASE MANAGEMENT ADHERENCE AND TRANSITIONS OF CARE GUIDE: Hepatic Encephalopathy
 
Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 12 p.m. Eastern
 
1 Hour CE: RN, SW, CCM

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a dangerous complication of cirrhosis of the liver. HE can result in increased mortality, hospitalizations, falls, traffic accidents and psychological burden. The incidence of cirrhosis has doubled in the last decade due to alcohol-related and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases. The mean age group for cirrhotic liver disease is 65 years and older, and are at higher risk of HE due mainly to medications that are typically prescribed for this age group.

Regardless of age, for those with cirrhosis experiencing HE, morbidity and mortality significantly increase. Prevention, and properly coordinated and transitional care after hospitalization will help decrease incidence. Case managers are on the front line of prevention education, care coordination and care transitions.

Presenter:
Nancy Skinner, RN, CCM, CMGT-BC, ACM-RN, CMCN, FCM

FREE WEBINAR for Members and Non-Members.
Made possible by Bausch Health/Salix Pharmaceuticals

CASE MANAGEMENT ADHERENCE AND TRANSITION OF CARE GUIDE: Reducing Mortality and Morbidity with Effective C.diff Care Coordination and Transitions

Tuesday, April 11, 2023, 5 p.m. Eastern

1 Hr CE Credit: RN, CCM, SW, CME, ACPE

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) as an urgent threat to people and healthcare systems. CDI leads to high healthcare utilizations and results in significantly reduced quality of life for patients. Learn about the incidence and impact of C. diff infection plus strategies to reduce recurrence, hospital admissions and poor quality of life.

Presenter:
Rebecca Perez, MSN, RN, CCM
Made possible by Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Celebrate your wins! How have you demonstrated improved case management processes that resulted in improved patient outcomes? Are you demonstrating advancements in the case management practice?

Get recognized for what you do every day for your patients.  

Recipients earn a $1500 cash award and get to share more about their success in an article, blog and a member webinar. Case studies are also being built as a resource for CMSA members to showcase best practices. 

Applications are due March 30. Click HERE to learn more and apply!

The CMSA Foundation has open board positions. Are you passionate about case management and interested in elevating the profession by creating opportunities for resources and education through program development, outreach and fundraising? Learn more about the 2023 open board positions and how you can make a difference using your leadership skills. Click HERE to download an application today! Applications are due April 1.

Our Membership Referral Program is running now through April 21, 2023!

STEP 1: Invite friends and colleagues to go to our Join Now webpage and join CMSA.

STEP 2: Make sure they know to enter your name for the referral when they join.

STEP 3: Keep referring — the more members you bring to CMSA, the more times you are entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card!

STEP 4: Don't stop! The member with the most referrals will win a FREE #CMSA2023 Conference Registration and be recognized on stage in Vegas!

Go to cmsa.org to log into your account. Click the "Member Referral" button in your member portal for more detail on how it works, plus helpful tools to spread to word: social graphics and text, infographics, LinkedIn Backgrounds and more!

In the fall of 2022, CMSA was approached by the Association of Italian Case Managers (AICM) to do a virtual presentation on the CMSA Standards of Practice for Case Management for their annual meeting.

After the presentation, they requested permission to translate our Standards into Italian. CMSA approved, and our Standards will be presented to their Federation for approval.

Email us at cmsa@cmsa.org if you're interested in having the Standards translated.

Haven't downloaded your FREE member copy of the CMSA Standards of Practice for Case Management? Click HERE to get your copy today.

New articles post each week on cmsatoday.com, so visit regularly for fresh content on current case management trends.

This week, we continue featuring articles from Issue 2: Professional Development Across the Continuum. Don't miss:

"How Can Case Managers Impact Widows/Widowers?" by TAMI WANTOLA, RN, AND SANDRA ZAWALSKI, MSN, RN, CRRN, CCM, ABDA, MSCC

"The Personal & Professional Accomplishments of Getting My BSN & MSN" by MICHELLE KNAUB, MSN, RN

"The Question of an Advanced Degree and Professionalism in Case Management" by DR. LISA PARKER-WILLIAMS, DNP, MBA, RN, CCM

"The Desire for Professional Engagement: Why Some People Are in and Why Many Are Out!" by TIFFANY FERGUSON, LMSW, CMAC, ACM

CMSA blogs are written and contributed by a broad range of authors, from board directors and industry partners to working case managers and recent retirees. Find every perspective here!

CMSA blogs post on Mondays and Thursdays each week.

"Social Workers in Case Management" by Celinda Carr, LCSW-C, CCM
Let’s celebrate the social workers who currently provide case management services and educate others who are unfamiliar with the high level of satisfaction and fulfillment we receive being case managers!

"The Art of Talking Story" by Raine Arndt-Couch, JD, MSW, LCSW, CCM
"Growing up in Hawai’i, I learned at a very early age the importance of 'talking story.' At its heart, talking story is a way in which people find commonality and develop rapport," — an essential skill for social workers.

"It’s Social Work Month!" by Dr. Colleen Morley, DNP, RN, CCM, CMAC, CMCN, ACM-RN, FCM
Social work case managers’ knowledge of the social determinants of health, gap finding, resource provision, wholistic care coordination and providing emotional and mental health support through the continuum of care make them indispensable members of the inter-professional care team, regardless of the care setting.