Integrated Case Management Manual

The

Integrated Case Management Manual
Assisting Complex Patients Regain Physical and Mental Health

R

oger G. Kathol, MD, acquired extensive experience in the clinical integration of general medical and mental health services for complex patients as the director of a Complexity Intervention Unit (the new term for Medical Psychiatry Unit) at the University of Iowa Hospitals between 1986 and 1999. Thereafter, he assisted in the integration of physical and mental health care management as medical director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota for several years. As president of Cartesian Solutions, Inc., he has consulted to numerous national and international organizations, hospitals and clinics, insurance companies, care management companies, employers, and government agencies wishing to coordinate medical and mental health care management services. In these positions, he has designed many integrated case management programs and trained case managers and practicing physicians from varied specialties in cross-disciplinary techniques so that they could coordinate care for patients with multimorbidity. Dr. Kathol has over 150 peer-reviewed publications related to the interaction of general medical and mental health disorders, and, with Suzanne Gatteau, has authored a book, Healing Body and Mind: A Critical Issue for Health Care Reform, (2007) which explains how to transition today’s siloed care to integrated care through purchaser, health plan, provider, and patient partnerships.

R

ebecca Perez, RN, BSN, CCM, has experienced firsthand the impact that segregation of physical and behavioral health has on the coordination of care, health service delivery, and patient outcomes during 15 years in acute care nursing and 15 in case management. As a result, Ms. Perez, a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, coauthored the depression chapter of the Case Management Adherence Guidelines (2006), has written numerous patient education articles on case management... [continues]

Read full essay