Nursing case management: strategic management of cost and quality outcomes.

Nursing Case Management has four essential components: achievement of clinical outcomes within a prescribed timeframe; the care giver as case manager; episode-based RN-MD group practices that transcend units; and active participation by patients/families in goal setting and evaluation. In the first year of implementation, nursing case management has shown positive resolutions for some of the complex issues facing health care administrators, managers, and clinicians. This article describes the model, its practical and philosophical origins, application, and early results.