Case management has evolved beyond the functions of discharge planning
and utilization review to a role of managing the delivery of services
for populations across settings. The two forces driving this change a
re the growth of Medicare managed care and the increasing numbers of f
rail older patients with chronic disease. Necessary components of case
management include a system of risk identification: an ability to lin
k information, physicians and other providers; an interdisciplinary te
am approach; and the ability to follow identified older patients over
time. In high intensity/low volume models, each case manager works dir
ectly with a small number of patients for a given episode of care or o
ver time.