Improving care, reducing costs. Careful planning and ongoing education are key to a successful care management...

Introduced in 1990, the care management program at St. Peter's Medical Center, New Brunswick, NJ, has had a growing impact on the facility's operations and bottom line. To introduce the program, care managers and nursing administrators conducted in-services for nurses and other personnel. At the same time, the vice president for nursing and the project director for care management introduced the concept to members of the medical staff likely to admit patients who fell into the care management population. Once selected, St. Peter's care managers go through an extensive orientation program consisting of three weeks of classroom instruction and three weeks of on-the-job training. Classroom training emphasizes business skills necessary to facilitate effective utilization of resources while ensuring that patients' needs and concerns are understood and addressed. On-the-job training helps new care managers apply the St. Peter's care management model. This careful preparation, along with continuing education for all practitioners, has helped win support throughout the facility for the care management approach. The St. Peter's care management department currently employs eight nurse care managers who help coordinate care for 16 diagnoses.