long-term care - Legislative Reference Bureau

SINGLE ENTRY POINT FOR LONG-TERM CARE SERVICES
coordination" to describe the "integration of the many services required by chronically ill
individuals. "64 The federal Office of Technology Assessment defines the process of case
management according to the five core functions of case management: 65
(1) Assessing a client's needs;
(2) Developing a plan of care;
(3) Arranging and coordinating services;
(4) Monitoring and evaluating the services delivered; and
(5) Reassessing the client's situation as the need arises.
Case management is one of several components in new care systems that have
reorganized the management of long-term care services to establish a single entry point for
client services: 66
The creation of uniform assessment tools, explicit financial eligibility criteria and
case management services all make access to community care more predictable
from a client's perspective and more standardized as viewed by program
administrators.
One view of case management is the following: 67
Care coordination is the process of organizing and supervismg the delivery of
services to persons whose chronic problems require a program of care that is both
comprehensive and coordinated. It provides access to the entire service system and
ensures the coordinated delivery of multiple services to individual clients. Basic to
care coordination is an initial broad-based assessment of the client's needs. In
addition, the care coordination process ensures that a service plan that considers all
the available service solutions is written, and that the client is reexamined at
intervals.
Some believe that effective case management is the most important component of an
integrated long-term care system: 68
Case management fulfills two roles: it serves a facilitating role in matching the
unique needs of clients with appropriate services and resources to meet these
needs, and it serves a gatekeeper function in controlling access to public funds and
the costs of services provided.
Typical activities involved in case management includes: 69
(1) Client outreach and screening for service eligibility;
(2) Assessment to determiI?-e client strengths and unmet needs;
(3) Care planning to meet client needs identified during the assessment;
(4) Implementation of the care plan and linkage of the client with needed
services;
(5) Advocacy70 on behalf of the client to promote the delivery and/or
development of services needed by the client;
(6) Monitoring the care plan and client progress to ensure services are
appropriate to the client's needs; and
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