A method to determine case manager caseloads in long-term care.

Case management has come to the forefront of home- and community-based long-term care (LTC) as an attempt to reduce the costs of LTC and the fragmentation of the home- and community-based LTC system. The cost of case management itself, however, must also receive attention. A key variable contributing to the cost of a case management program is the size of the case managers' caseloads; the higher the caseloads, the lower the costs, all other things being equal. However, caseloads that are too high can reduce the quality of care. Thus, a program's recommended caseload is an important factor. This article presents a method for determining a recommended caseload for a home- and community-based LTC program, using a case study. This method can be adapted for use by programs that have a different caseload history from that of the program in the case study.