What is the primary goal of case management in patient care?

The primary goal of case management in patient care is to mobilize resources and enhance the quality of care. This involves assessing patients' needs and coordinating a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to ensure they receive appropriate services and support throughout their healthcare journey. Effective case management not only focuses on facilitating access to necessary resources, such as specialty care and rehabilitation, but also emphasizes the importance of continuity of care, patient education, and family involvement. By improving coordination among caregivers, case managers help optimize health outcomes and patient satisfaction, effectively creating a more patient-centered care environment.

While reducing the length of hospital stays can be a beneficial outcome of effective case management, it is not the primary goal. Hospital admissions are also not a target of case management; instead, the focus is on appropriate care across the continuum, which may sometimes mean avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations. Lastly, improving physician decision-making is important but is a subset of the broader aim of enhancing overall patient care quality and resource utilization.