Expanded Case Management works

New research from Carnegie Mellon shows a patient-centered case management program designed to improve health care quality and reduce medical expenses for those with complex or clinically advanced illnesses resulted in a 38 percent decrease in hospital admissions, reduced costs by more than $18,000 per patient and garnered high patient-satisfaction scores. Patient-centered management (PCM) assigns highly trained nurses to provide extensive patient education and care coordination, as well as pain and end-of-life management. PCM helps patients select services, consider different treatment options and avoid unnecessary hospitalization and emergency room visits — in essence changing some patient behaviors and environments that impair their care or yield unnecessary health-care expense.