Nursing Case Management in An Acute Care Setting

Health care organizations are implementing new patient care delivery models with the expectation that operations reengineering will bring dramatic improvements in cost, quality, and patient satisfaction (Schweikart, 1996, p. 19). Together with the fundamental redefinition of caregivers' work roles, the adoption of reengineering principles features the organization of work activities around team structures such that teams are considered the basic unit of work performance. This revised organizational structure is causing an increased emphasis to be placed on the application of the case management concept as a means of assuring care quality and economy in the delivery of care.

Improving the quality of the care provided is widely suggested in the 1990s as the solution to many of the problems being faced by health care institutions (Phipps, 1992

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hose factors of greatest importance to patients. Patient satisfaction surveys seldom ask patients about continuity of care, a factor of significance to most patients. Continuity of care appears to be a "black hole" in most patient satisfaction and quality-of-care measurement efforts (Nelson & Niederberger, 1990, p. 424). Continuity of care also seldom is viewed as a quality indicator for health care. If patient satisfaction surveys are to provide indicators of quality of care, however, continuity of care (a factor of significance to patients) must be included in the measurements. The implementation of a quality improvement program within an acute care setting typically involves some degree of institutional reorganization or restructuring. An absence of shared values among participants is frequently an inhibitor to the successful implementation of a quality improvement program during a period of reorganization or restructuring (Sherer, 1994, pp. 20-22). An effective implementation of a quality improvement program within an acute care institutional health care delivery environment demands that "everyone speak the same language" in a metaphorical sense ("Hospitals lead," 1993, pp. 162-163). An emphasis on patient-focused care
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Statement Health, Summary Study, Nelson Niederberger, NPs Medical, APNs ICU, Thibodeau Hawkins, Gillies Devers, War Weston, Concept Application, Tischler Unutzer, health care, acute care, patient satisfaction, managed care, health care services, care services, care delivery, care institutions, acute care institutions, care quality, management concept, health care delivery, delivery health care, quality patient, quality patient satisfaction,
Approximate Word count = 9595
Approximate Pages = 38 (250 words per page)

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