CMSA Today - Issue 4, 2021

LEGACY LEADERS

A Conversation with Suzanne K. Powell, RN, BSN, MBA, CCM, CPHQ BY SANDRA LOWERY, RN-BC, CCM E ach month we will look at a case man agement leader recommended by one of the past presidents of CMSA. The is that Chuck was too ill to receive help from it once it was covered.

works for your patients in order to give them the best chance at a healthier life. Since I have been in acute case management for most of my years, I believe the triad model works well for today’s acute environment. Here we have nurse case managers and social workers teaming with the utiliza tion management RNs. Daily rounds on all floors bring these three groups together, along with the physicians (including physi cian advisors), nutritionists, bedside nursing and therapies. The triad is not new or innovative, as it revisits many of the tenets I saw in the 1980s. However, healthcare is very different now, with tougher criteria, more denials of care and a greater specificity of patients’ issues. To meet the healthcare needs of the patients, the organizations, fellow health care workers and everyone’s fiscal health, this model allows everyone to focus on qual ity care and efficient throughput. When we used to “do it all,” there was a tipping point where many things fell through the cracks, and burnout ensued. Q. HOW HAVE YOU MENTORED CASE MANAGERS TO BE LEADERS? A. I encourage case managers to write manuscripts on innovative models they are working on and speak at national conven tions, often about their writings. This not only spreads good ideas that other case manage ment models can build on but moves profes sionals out of their comfort zone – necessary for growth. Some of these professionals have gone on to write case management books and teach at universities. As editor-in-chief of PCM Journal , thoughtful choices of manuscripts and even requesting someone to co-write an edito rial with me on topics that are timely and

Next, I became the second case manager at a large teaching hospital in Phoenix. After learning case management by the seat of my pants and realizing that there was little training material for case managers, I wrote my first case management book. Today, I have authored several to assist case man agers in their practice. Here are a few that readers can check out: Powell, S.K. (Ed.) Case Management Society of America’s Core Curriculum for Case Management, 3rd edi tion, Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins. and Powell, S.K., & Tahan, M.H., Case Management: A Practical Guide for Education and Practice, 4th Edition (2019). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins. My next type of case management was at the QIO (quality improvement organiza tion) for Arizona, where I was the director of case management for self-funded plans and managed healthcare projects that spanned all acute care hospitals in Arizona. In this role I learned A LOT about Medicare regulations that affect the work that case managers are still responsible for today. Lastly, I became the manager of the nurse case managers at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. After five years of joys and trials, a remote position became avail able, just as my life needed something less stressful. Q. WHAT MODEL OF CASE MANAGEMENT DO YOU SEE AS BEING MOST EFFECTIVE IN TODAY’S CURRENT HEALTH CARE ENVIRONMENT? A. As you can see from the previous ques tion, there are many types of case man agement. So, the short answer is: whatever

criteria for a nomination is that the profes sional has contributed to the practice of case management and has inspired others to step up to become leaders in their area of case management. In this issue, Past President of the Case Management Society of America Sandra Lowery, RN-BC, CCM, founder of CCMI Associates, recommends Suzanne K. Powell, RN, BSN, MBA, CCM, CPHQ, editor in-chief of Lippincott’s Professional Case Management Journal. Here are a few questions that will give you insights into this dynamic leader. Q. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT ROLE? A. I have two current case manage ment roles: One is the editor-in-chief of Lippincott’s Professional Case Management Journal (PCM Journal) for the past 20 years. Second, I am a case manager at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. In both, I am grateful for the case management journey that has led me to “today.” Some history: In the 1980s, I was a case manager for the largest Medicaid Managed Care plan in Arizona. Not having any role models, I fought for the patients every way I could. Since I did not know better nor knew any boundaries, when Chuck (an 18-year-old with leukemia) needed an autologous bone marrow transplant to save his life – which was not a covered service for Arizona Medicaid at the time – I went to the top of the Arizona Medicaid leaders and respectfully became a “per sistent” case manager to advocate for my patient. The good news was that these transplants became covered; the bad news

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CMSA TODAY

Issue 4 • 2021