The Case Management Workbook: Defining the Role of Physicians, Nurses and Case Managers

Case management has become one of the most effective means by which a continuum of care functions effectively and efficiently. A complete examination of the application of continuum of care, The Case Management Workbook: Defining the Role of Physicians, Nurses, and Case Managers defines the roles of the case management team and provides an overview of key post acute venues of care. It supplies an overview of the process, its structure, and the responsibility of each member of the team. The book discusses how managing the care of the patient in today’s healthcare environment will take a concerted effort from the entire case management team—not just a handful of case managers.

The authors demonstrate that the case management team includes many more individuals than simply those with the title of case manager. The team must consist of key clinical personnel including the nurse, the physician and the case manager, each of whom have specific roles in case management. The book also highlights the role administration plays in assuring each member of the team is on board with the hospital’s or health system’s goal in assuring the patient is at the right place at the right time in their episode of care.

In the words of the authors, case managers are … the unsung heroes of effective healthcare delivery. They push and they prod, they inform and they educate, they provide valuable information to physicians and families with a common goal—to assure the patient is provided care in the most appropriate venue correlative to the medical resources needed and provided. In their book they explore a key byproduct of an effective case management system— the realization of an effective integrated health system whereby physicians and hospitals are aligned as caretakers of future health resources.

Cherilyn G. Murer, JD, CRA, Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Murer Group, has long been an active voice in the advancement of quality, cost-effective healthcare. Ms. Murer received a juris doctor degree with honors from Northern Illinois University (NIU) and has coupled her background in law with her previous operational experience as the Director of Rehabilitation Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Murer is a sought-after lecturer and educator whose focus is on assisting her clients navigate through the complex regulatory, strategic, and financial issues facing healthcare today.

In May 2005, Ms. Murer received a gubernatorial appointment, with Senate confirmation, to a six-year term on the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees. In 2007, Ms. Murer was elected Chairman of the Board of this state university with over 26,000 students. Ms. Murer and her husband, Michael, have provided a philanthropic gift to NIU to establish the Murer Initiative as a forum for scholarly discussion, policy analysis and cross-disciplinary integration of medicine, law, technology, and finance. In September 2007, Ms. Murer was selected by the university to present the first Annual Executive Speaker Series Presentation, "Conversation with a CEO," co-sponsored by NIU College of Engineering and College of Business. In 2002, Ms. Murer was appointed to the Northern Illinois University Law School’s prestigious Board of Visitors and was honored with its 2003 College of Law Distinguished Alumni Award. Ms. Murer holds an appointment to the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Law in the Department of Family Medicine.

Coinciding with the firm’s 25th anniversary (February 2010), Ms. Murer was honored by both the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northern Illinois University. On February 25, 2010, she was inducted into the prestigious Chicago Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. In April she received the 2010 Northern Illinois University Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award, the highest award given by the NIU Alumni Association to one individual each year who has achieved national, regional, or statewide prominence.

Ms. Murer was pleased to accept, in October 2004, an invitation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) to participate in an International Advisory Committee on the development of the first set of International Stroke Rehabilitation Standards. Ms. Murer has presented the keynote address at the Annual Case Management Society of America Convention in Anaheim, California. As a featured speaker, she highlighted the critical role of case management in a reformed healthcare environment. Ms. Murer has been appointed by CARF to its International Advisory Committee to promote globalization of accreditation standards.

Ms. Murer has co-authored with Lyndean Lenhoff Brick and Michael A. Murer four books published by McGraw-Hill. The Case Management Sourcebook is a 300-page text that serves as a guide to designing and implementing a centralized case management system. A second book, published by McGraw Hill and co-published by HFMA, entitled Post Acute Care Reimbursement Manual: A Financial and Legal Guide, addressed the financial impact to post acute venues pre- and post-Balanced Budget Act (BBA). A third book, Compliance Audits and Plans for Healthcare, was one of the first books to address complex heathcare compliance issues.
A fourth book, Healthcare Records Management is an 800-page complete guide to disclosure, retention, and technology. A fifth book was published in April of 2003 by Commerce Clearing House, Inc. (CCH), entitled Understanding Provider-Based Status.

As commencement speaker at her alma mater, Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, Ms. Murer was awarded the Mother Gerard Phelan