Case management: managing financial and clinical outcomes in ophthalmic nursing.

Case management is emerging in nursing as an effective and cost efficient model of care delivery for patients with complex nursing, medical, and psychosocial needs. The term "case management" first appeared in the social welfare literature in the early seventies and then later appeared in nursing literature (ANA, 1988). Nursing's concept of case management has been defined and interpreted to fit various health care settings. The purpose of this paper is to address a case management model and demonstrate through a case study how the case management model benefits the patient, the health care team, and the health care agency.